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PROTECT NEW MEXICO'S ENERGY FUTURE
POWER TO THE PEOPLE, NOT PRIVATE EQUITY

New Mexicans Should Own PNM—Not Blackstone

We have a moment of historic opportunity. New Mexico can reclaim control of our energy future by acquiring a majority stake (51%) in the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM), using the resources of the State Investment Council (SIC). With over $61 billion in managed assets and a long record of fiscally responsible investment, the SIC is uniquely positioned to safeguard the state’s energy system, protect ratepayers, and align PNM’s operations with public interest and policy goals—something no regulatory body can achieve by itself under private equity ownership.By contrast, Blackstone’s proposed acquisition of PNM’s parent company TXNM Energy represents the largest utility takeover attempt in its history—yet Blackstone has never managed a regulated utility, let alone owned one entirely. And its track record in housing, labor, and extractive industries shows it consistently prioritizes profit over people and long-term sustainability and community health.

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Blackstone’s Harmful Track Record:

Why They Can’t Be Trusted with PNM

Blackstone is not a utility company. It’s the world’s largest private equity firm—with a track record of maximizing returns at the expense of working people, frontline communities, and public accountability.

Blackstone’s horrific record includes:

Water-Draining Data Centers

Blackstone is investing in massive energy infrastructure to serve AI and cloud data centers, which consume millions of gallons of water. In 2021, a Google data center in The Dulles, Oregon consumed 335 million gallons of water, more than one-third of its municipal water supply.

These centers are slated to grow in New Mexico, especially if this Blackstone acquisition goes through. This could further strain our water resources with no clear regulation or consent.

Development of these centers could drain New Mexico’s already drought-stricken environment. They could also impact grid reliability and increase electricity rates for residential ratepayers. Private equity owned El Paso Electric projects being 20% short of needed capacity due to new data centers for the next five years. Additionally, data centers require extremely high levels of energy to operate which is often supplied by dirty energy sources like nuclear and fossil fuels.

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Labor Violations and Anti-Union Practices

Blackstone’s portfolio is marked by a consistent pattern of labor abuses, union suppression, and cost-cutting that prioritizes investor returns over worker protections. Across multiple sectors—from disaster recovery to media production—workers employed by or contracted through Blackstone-owned companies have reported widespread wage theft, unsafe working conditions, and retaliation for organizing.

Blackstone’s ownership of SERVPRO exemplifies these issues. SERVPRO franchisees have faced multiple OSHA violations and Department of Labor investigations for denying workers overtime pay, failing to provide adequate respiratory protection, and allowing hazardous job sites to persist. These conditions disproportionately impact immigrant and BIPOC workers who make up the backbone of the resilience labor force, cleaning up after wildfires, hurricanes, and floods—often funded by FEMA and other public sources. Yet, because of the franchise model, Blackstone disclaims responsibility, even while profiting from the labor of subcontracted workers. Workers’ organizing efforts are often stifled due to the fragmented employment structure and lack of clear accountability.

In the entertainment industry, Blackstone’s subsidiaries Moonbug Entertainment and Faraway Road were directly implicated in the 2023 Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike. Writers demanded fair residuals, job security, and protections from exploitative short-term contracts, and conditions worsened under the streaming-era business models adopted by private equity-owned studios. Despite the massive value Blackstone has extracted from its media acquisitions through Candle Media (backed with $2 billion), the firm failed to take any public position in support of writers or commit to upholding basic labor standards. The WGA characterized employer responses—including those of AMPTP signatories like Blackstone-owned studios—as pushing the profession toward a gig economy model, undermining decades of collective bargaining progress.

Blackstone’s track record raises serious concerns about labor practices, particularly in its hospitality holdings. In October 2023, workers at Blackstone-owned Fairfield and Aloft LAX/El Segundo hotels and the Sheraton Phoenix went on strike over unfair labor conditions and stalled contract negotiations. The workers, represented by UNITE HERE Local 11, demanded a $5 hourly wage increase, access to health care, and pensions. Most hotel workers were earning only $20/hour in regions where the living wage exceeds $30/hour. Despite surging housing costs, Blackstone reportedly failed to offer meaningful improvements during negotiations.

Blackstone is also facing a federal unfair labor practice charge related to unlawful discipline, termination, and surveillance of union activity at the Sheraton Phoenix. This pattern of anti-union behavior and prioritization of profit over workers’ well-being raises serious concerns for any potential acquisition of our state’s largest regulated monopoly utility company.

Much of PNM’s workforce is unionized with significant pay and benefits, and their collective bargaining agreement is paramount to its workers. Do we want a massive private equity firm with a horrible track record on labor relations to hurt our union workers who ensure that our grid is safe and reliable?

Housing Crisis Profiteering

Blackstone has a notorious record in housing, acquiring large portfolios of rental properties and hiking rents, evicting tenants, and fueling gentrification. Blackstone is now the largest landlord in the United States, owning and managing over 300,000 housing units. Since 2020, it has aggressively expanded into single and multi-family real estate, including a $6 billion acquisition of Home Partners of America, driving up home prices and putting homeownership further out of reach for working families.

This expansion has hurt working people throughout our country and beyond. In Florida, Blackstone filed over 350 evictions between August and November 2022 alone. In many cases, tenants were behind just one month’s rent. Blackstone then re-listed the homes at 9% to 39% higher rents. In San Diego, it raised rents by 43–64% on 5,600 units it acquired in 2021. These tactics—dubbed "evict-to-increase"—sparked widespread outrage, protests, media coverage, and tenant organizing. Local officials from Imperial Beach and San Diego joined calls for accountability. AFSCME Local 3299 reported 70% of UC workers are forced to live far from their jobs due to skyrocketing rents linked to Blackstone.

Blackstone’s conduct has drawn international backlash too. In Puerto Rico, its foreclosures post-Hurricane Maria triggered protests. In Denmark, the government passed a “Blackstone Law” in 2020 to curb rent hikes and displacement caused by their harmful profiteering.

Even Blackstone’s own executives admit their goal: internal remarks forecasted 20% rent increases as eviction protections ended. These profits fund luxury investor retreats, such a Blackstone’s luxurious 2023 Boca Raton conference, and CEO Stephen Schwarzman lined his own pockets with $1.3 billion in pay in 2022.

As housing becomes increasingly unaffordable, entire communities are being pushed out. Critics across the political spectrum warn that private equity landlords are reshaping housing into a vehicle for profit extraction, undermining economic mobility. Do we want a bad actor like this controlling the largest investor-owned utility in New Mexico?

Child Labor

Blackstone owns a slaughterhouse cleaning company called Packers Sanitation Services Inc. (PSSI). In 2023 they were fined $1.5 million when the U.S. Department of Labor uncovered more than 100 children working illegal overnight shifts in hazardous conditions. Their investigation revealed systemic violations dating back to at least 2019, including serious injuries and a flagrant disregard for labor law. PSSI has one of the highest rates of severe injuries in its industry, and since Blackstone acquired it, reports included multiple amputations and at least three fatalities—including a decapitation. Major clients such as Cargill, Tyson, and JBS have since severed or scaled back contracts with PSSI, citing safety concerns and public backlash.

These are the systemic risks associated with private equity ownership. When profit is prioritized over worker protections, people are exploited, harmed, and even needlessly die. This is why Blackstone cannot be trusted with vital public infrastructure like utilities.

Lack of Regulated Utility Experience

Blackstone has never operated a regulated utility. It holds minority stakes in two but soon after it acquired its interest in First Energy that utility abandoned its climate goals.

Letting Blackstone take over PNM means handing New Mexico’s largest electric utility over to a global profiteer with a track record of harming people. Their ownership of both the largest utility in our state, other energy infrastructure, including energy-hungry data centers poses significant conflict of interest issues, and would give them outsized influence over our energy sources, economy, politics, and water supply, effectively turning New Mexico into a company town.

What are the benefits of Public Ownership?

Ratepayer and Public Protections Beyond What the PRC Can Deliver

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Private utility ownership incentivizes capital expenditure padding and obfuscation. Investor-owned utilities earn guaranteed profits largely through rate-based investment. Current regulation grants PNM a 9.45% return on equity (ROE) that they continuously attempt to increase. This structure incentivizes them to shift costs from operations (which aren’t profitable) into capital expenditure accounts—where they earn that perpetual 9.45% on capital assets, which they depreciate over long periods of time. This drives higher bills and frequent rate hikes, not from actual service improvements, but from securing guaranteed profits.

If the SIC owned 51% of PNM, New Mexicans would have direct board representation and voting power, enabling the state to:

Prohibit disconnections for low-income households.
Ensure energy policy aligns with state climate and affordability goals.
Approve fairer electricity rates rooted in service value and the public interest.
Redirect procurement, wildfire mitigation, and transmission policy toward resilience and sustainability.
End exploitative cost-shifting practices and wasteful capital expenditures.
Keep a majority of the corporate earnings in the state; provide a healthy revenue stream to New Mexico’s budget where profits are repurposed back into New Mexico’s priorities.

Balancing Profitability, Access to Capital, and Ratepayer Protection

Critics may argue that replacing a profit-maximizing private parent company with a public institutional investor like SIC could weaken PNM’s stock price or its ability to attract capital. However, utilities are valued primarily for their stability, regulatory predictability, and ability to issue debt at favorable rates—not simply for maximizing returns.

As a majority shareholder, the SIC could maintain PNM’s dividend structure to ensure competitiveness in capital markets. State-led ownership does not preclude strategic capital injection. On the contrary, SIC’s oversight could unlock lower-cost financing through bond markets due to perceived risk reduction and public backing. Moreover, PNM has not demonstrated difficulty in accessing capital under current conditions. Its net income margin and credit ratings remain healthy, and the SIC’s financial position offers a backstop that aligns with long-term infrastructure investment—not quarterly earnings pressure.

The key difference is motive: while Blackstone’s incentive is to extract maximum profits (often through intense capital expenditures that earn a 9.45% return which customers pay in rate hikes), SIC’s motive is aligned with our state’s interest in service reliability, affordability, and climate goals, all of which support prudent capital deployment and long-term system resilience.

Financial Strength, Simplicity, and Long-Term Profitability

Purchasing 51% of TXNM Energy would cost approximately $2.6 billion. This is just a fraction of the SIC’s current assets, only 4%, and well within our means. This investment would:

Earn hundreds of millions annually for the state based on PNM’s projected profits. In 2024, PNM’s total revenue was $1.97 billion, and its net income was $258.72 million.
Be a low-risk, stable investment—unlike the $1.5 billion SIC holds in below-investment-grade securities.
Create a new, reliable revenue stream that diversifies New Mexico’s overreliance on volatile oil and gas royalties.

Purchasing TXNM Energy stock is straightforward and beneficial. SIC acquisition maintains the corporation’s structure, all of its union protections, collective bargaining agreements, and staff continuity, while ensuring that the utility serves the best interests of New Mexicans.

Aligning PNM’s Governance with New Mexico’s Policy Vision

Today, PNM’s sole directive is to maximize shareholder profits. Blackstone would only intensify this dynamic—lacking regulatory experience, and infamous for fueling inequity throughout its operations.

By contrast, state ownership means board members will be accountable to New Mexicans, not Wall Street. The SIC could institute strict qualifications for board members through a rulemaking process governing how it selects them—requiring professional expertise (legal, engineering, accounting, consumer protection, community engagement, or executive public management)—while ensuring governance is non-political, competent, and mission-driven.

A state-led board could advance:

Energy affordability, avoiding unnecessary rate hikes.
Equity and anti-disconnection programs.
Community solar and microgrids.
Job creation aligned with the state’s climate goals (pushing for the solarization of all public schools, for example).
Strategic investment in renewables produced in-state, not expensive out-of-state nuclear, that does not create one job in New Mexico

Economic and Climate Resilience

New Mexico is rich in solar and wind potential—far more than its current energy demand. Under public majority ownership, revenues generated from excess energy exports (such as sales to more expensive energy markets like California or Arizona) could be reinvested into system improvements or community-benefit programs, subject to PRC review and rate design. While core utility earnings remain in the regulated rate base, incremental revenues—especially from non-ratepayer-funded generation or power purchase agreements—could be treated as special-purpose funds for resiliency projects, school solarization, or rural infrastructure upgrades. With the needs of New Mexicans as a top priority, state-owned PNM would have incentives to invest more to benefit our state.

State ownership and oversight would also ensure that PNM isn’t incentivized to overbuild or gold-plate its assets, which only increases ratepayer costs. Resources would be retained in-state, rather than funneled to out-of-state shareholders and private equity conglomerates.

And while Blackstone seeks control over utilities and data centers, SIC ownership avoids the nightmare of a company town dominated by an unaccountable, international megacorporation, expanding its lobbying influence over New Mexico government and climate policy.

An SIC acquisition of PNM will optimize reinvestment strategies that reflect the public interest.

Has this been done before?

How would this work?

Comparable Precedents:
SIC and Global Public Investment

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The SIC has made large-scale infrastructure investments, including over $700 million committed in recent months alone. It already manages over $61 billion in investments and plays a crucial role in stabilizing the state’s budget through its prudent management of its permanent funds which are largely derived from extraction of non-renewable resources on state trust land.

Earlier this year the Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired shares of TXNM. Internationally, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) owns Pattern Energy, a major U.S.-based renewable energy firm, demonstrating the viability and benefits of public investment in energy infrastructure. Recently pension funds in the Netherlands and Australia acquired stakes in Pattern Energy too.

There are other examples. In 2021, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board and IFM Investors jointly acquired Enwave Energy Corporation’s Canadian district energy operations for C$2.8 billion. Enwave provides low-carbon district heating and cooling services to over 320 customers across major Canadian cities. Each investor took a 50% stake, citing the utility-like stability, sustainability benefits, and long-term growth potential of the sector.

This acquisition followed the pair’s earlier joint investment in Global Container Terminals, illustrating a trend of public pension collaboration on essential infrastructure. These examples show that public institutions can drive sustainable infrastructure development while maintaining strong returns.

These cases challenge the assumption that public oversight limits financial performance, demonstrating that public-sector investors can effectively balance mission-driven goals with market returns.

Regulatory Approvals: SIC vs. Blackstone

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Acquiring a controlling interest in a utility like PNM requires navigating multiple regulatory bodies. But the pathways for Blackstone and the SIC are very different:

Blackstone’s Regulatory Hurdles

Blackstone would require:

PRC Approval – For a majority interest change; subject to public interest review.
FERC Approval – Triggered at 10% ownership or more.
HSR Act Review (DOJ/FTC) – For antitrust concerns.
SEC Approval – For a majority shareholder position.
CFIUS Review – If foreign investors are involved, as Blackstone's are.
Shareholder Approval – Requires a vote on the proposed buyout.

Timeframe: 9–12 months minimum, with multiple points of failure.

SIC Pathway

For the SIC:

No HSR issues at 51%—as SIC isn’t a competitor or monopoly risk.
No CFIUS review—SIC is a domestic public entity.
PRC and FERC approval would still be required, but far more favorably viewed as a public-interest investment.
SEC approval may be needed as well, but that would likely be a smoother process.
A shareholder vote would be required.

Timeframe: Potentially much shorter and less politically contentious.

And while Blackstone is seeking ownership for profit extraction, SIC ownership is about public value creation—a difference regulators will weigh heavily.

A Just, Profitable, and Forward-Looking Path

New Mexicans can’t stand by while Blackstone—a firm with no utility experience and a harmful legacy—buys out its largest electricity company. Instead, through the SIC, we, the people can own and guide PNM, transforming it into a public-interest-aligned, climate-resilient, and community-oriented utility.This is about better returns, better governance, and better outcomes for every New Mexican.Let’s keep profits, power, and decision-making in our state—where it belongs.

Take Action
Stop Blackstone!

New Mexicans Should Own PNM—Not Blackstone

Blackstone’s Harmful Track Record:

Why They Can’t Be Trusted with PNM

Blackstone is not a utility company. It’s the world’s largest private equity firm—with a track record of maximizing returns at the expense of working people, frontline communities, and public accountability.

Blackstone’s horrific record includes:

Water-Draining Data Centers

Labor Violations and Anti-Union Practices

Housing Crisis Profiteering

Child Labor

Lack of Regulated Utility Experience

What are the benefits of Public Ownership?

Ratepayer and Public Protections Beyond What the PRC Can Deliver

Balancing Profitability, Access to Capital, and Ratepayer Protection

Financial Strength, Simplicity, and Long-Term Profitability

Aligning PNM’s Governance with New Mexico’s Policy Vision

Economic and Climate Resilience

Has this been done before?

How would this work?

Comparable Precedents:
SIC and Global Public Investment

Regulatory Approvals: SIC vs. Blackstone

Blackstone’s Regulatory Hurdles

SIC Pathway

A Just, Profitable, and Forward-Looking Path

Get Involved!

Contact Us

Subscribe for Updates

Take Action Stop Blackstone!

New Mexicans Should Own PNM—Not Blackstone

Blackstone’s Harmful Track Record:

Why They Can’t Be Trusted with PNM

Blackstone is not a utility company. It’s the world’s largest private equity firm—with a track record of maximizing returns at the expense of working people, frontline communities, and public accountability.

Blackstone’s horrific record includes:

Water-Draining Data Centers

What are the benefits of Public Ownership?

Ratepayer and Public Protections Beyond What the PRC Can Deliver

Has this been done before?

How would this work?

​​Comparable Precedents: SIC and Global Public Investment

A Just, Profitable, and Forward-Looking Path

Get Involved!

Contact Us

Subscribe for Updates

Take Action
Stop Blackstone!

Comparable Precedents:
SIC and Global Public Investment