If you are concerned about the proposed sale of one of Minnesota’s largest electric utilities, Minnesota Power, to private equity firms 👉 Now is the time to act!
Tell the PUC that the Department of Commerce’s settlement with Minnesota Power doesn’t protect Minnesotans and to reject this private equity takeover.
Whether you are a Minnesota Power customer or a Minnesotan anywhere else in the state, this sale will impact you.
ACT NOW
Use this form to send an email to the PUC by 4:30 pm on Thursday, August 14th.
ALLETE/Minnesota Power is the target of a proposed acquisition by powerful private equity interests, Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP). GIP is owned by BlackRock (the largest asset manager in the world). CURE—along with the Sierra Club, the Citizen Utilities Board, the MN Attorney General’s office, and Minnesota’s largest industries, including the iron mines—oppose this takeover as bad for Minnesotans and their energy future. For a deeper dive, read this Truthout article covering the deal.
Before this deal can go through, it needs the approval of the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC), which has to find that it’s “consistent with the public interest.” Learn more here about why we think selling a critical public service off to giant private equity interests is clearly not in the public interest.
This month—after a lengthy process where all sides got to bring evidence and testimony and where the public weighed in heavily against the deal—an Administrative Law Judge recommended that the PUC reject the sale, citing risks to clean energy goals, financial stability, and ratepayer protections—calling the deal a net harm to the public interest.
“In considering the true risks and benefits of the Acquisition, it is critical that the Petitioner’s agreements and private discussions do not comport with their public statements. The nonpublic evidence reveals [GIP and CPP’s] intent to do what private equity is expected to do – pursue profit in excess of public markets through company control.” – Administrative Law Judge Megan J. McKenzie
Unfortunately, just days before the ALJ’s report was released, the Minnesota Department of Commerce—which had previously vociferously opposed the deal—caved to pressure and came to a “settlement” with Minnesota Power and their private equity partners. This settlement includes a handful of provisions that purport to mitigate the harms of the acquisition, but in reality, fall far short.
Read CURE’s comment about why the DOC’s settlement does little to protect Minnesota Power customers and the state from the dangers of this deal.