Today, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) unanimously approved the sale of ALLETE, the parent company of Minnesota Power, to two private equity investors, the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP) and Global Infrastructure Partners, a subsidiary of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager. This decision concludes a lengthy regulatory, legal, and public battle which will have major implications not just for Minnesota but for the nation’s entire energy system, as private equity interests set their sights on public utilities.
The PUC’s approval runs counter to the recommendation of an Administrative Law Judge, who in July found that the proposed acquisition and private equity buyout of ALLETE is not in the public interest.
Opponents of the deal—including CURE, Sierra Club, the MN Citizens Utility Board, the MN Attorney General and Minnesota Power’s largest industrial customers—held firm even as the PUC Commissioners approved a handful of additional conditions agreed to by the utility and the proposed buyers, including a one year rate freeze, dedicated money for a “clean firm” investment, a weatherization program for some utility customers, and $50 million in rate credits shared between industrial and other customers.
“While figures like $50 million may sound like a lot, the very temporary protections, programs, and funding tacked onto this deal cannot offset the billions of dollars of profit the new owners intend to reap from northern Minnesota households and businesses. We remain deeply concerned, as was the judge and PUC staff analysis, that this is a ‘lose lose’ for Northern Minnesota regardless of the purported benefits.” Hudson Kingston, CURE’s Legal Director
Even in the waning days and hours before the PUC made its decision, comments from Minnesotans pleading that the PUC reject the deal continued to roll in, citing fears about rate hikes and the risks of putting Minnesota’s energy transition in the hands of private equity. This overwhelming public opposition appeared to have little real effect on the Commissioners who tried to assuage these concerns with the assurance the “we can deal with it in our rate case if they misbehave.”
“The Commission’s confidence that they have the capacity, authority, and objectivity to regulate the likes of BlackRock—a financial behemoth that has tentacles in every part of the global economy—rings hollow, especially when they already oversee regular utility rate hikes that families struggle to afford. It will fall on community and ratepayer advocates, utility watchdogs, and the public itself to hold these entities and the PUC to account and mitigate the harms of this decision.” Maggie Schuppert, a Minnesota Power ratepayer and CURE’s Director of Strategic Initiatives
