📢 We Won A Major Victory Against Blackstone's Buyout – But The Fight Isn't Over Yet.

Right now, we're celebrating a major victory in the fight to keep our energy future in the hands of the people – not the Wall Street investors and ultra-wealthy executives profiting from extraction at our expense.

Yesterday, months of overwhelming community opposition to Blackstone's proposed buyout of PNM paid off when the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission Hearing Examiners issued a Recommended Decision reminding the world's largest private equity firm that it doesn't get to decide when the rules apply to them.

And the consequences for Blackstone could be significant – but now, we need your help to make them a reality.

Read more from SourceNM and the Santa Fe New Mexican.

In their Recommended Decision, Hearing Examiners affirmed what advocates have been sounding the alarm about for months, concluding that Blackstone violated New Mexico law when it purchased $400 million in stock in TXNM – PNM's parent company – without the prior regulatory approval required under NMSA § 62-6-12.

But they didn't stop there.

In a major victory for ratepayers across New Mexico, Hearing Examiners also recommended that Blackstone withdraw its application to acquire PNM altogether, because the unlawful stock purchase was central to the merger itself.

Photos: Youth United for Climate Crisis Action, Gabriela Campos, and NM Ratepayer Rebellion

And yesterday's win didn't happen out of nowhere.

It happened because of the ratepayers, community members, and advocates who packed public comment hearings, spoke out against a private equity takeover of our largest electric utility, sounded the alarm about Blackstone's AI data center investments, questioned why a handful of PNM executives could walk away with tens of millions of dollars from the deal while our communities would be left to live with the consequences, and even put our bodies on the line to confront the world's largest private equity firm in its own backyard.

Together, we sent a message too powerful to ignore: Blackstone is not above the law – and they are not welcome in New Mexico.

🚨 But our work isn't done yet. Hearing Examiners' Recommended Decision is just that – a recommendation. Now, the Public Regulation Commission still has to decide whether to adopt it, and the stakes couldn't be higher. 🚨

Photo: Gabriela Campos, The Santa Fe New Mexican

Communities across the country have already seen what happens when Blackstone is allowed to take control of the basic infrastructure we depend on to survive. 

In Indiana, where Blackstone owns nearly 20% of another electric utility, many residents have seen their bills double or triple in the 2 years since their investment, with some ratepayers have reported seeing their average monthly bills climb from $300 to nearly $800. 

In West Virginia, a utility where the private equity firm has invested $1 billion abandoned its interim clean energy goals in favor of keeping two coal plants online to meet regional energy demand – all while Blackstone invests billions in the AI data center developments across the country that are driving that demand in the first place.

And now, if the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission ignores Hearing Examiners’ Recommended Decision and allows Blackstone to acquire PNM, ratepayers would be left to trust that 3 regulators can oversee one of the most powerful private equity firms in the world – one whose annual revenue exceeds the budget of the entire state of New Mexico.

This fight isn’t about one stock acquisition or even one utility buyout. 

It’s about who holds the power to shape our energy future. And right now, as the PRC considers Hearing Examiners’ recommendation, we need your help to make it clear that that future should be built by our communities – not dictated behind closed doors by billionaires and out-of-state investors. 

The Public Regulation Commission just called a closed meeting for THIS Thursday, June 11th to discuss this issue, and we need your help to demand transparency. 

📢 Call the Public Regulation Commission TODAY at 505-490-7910 to urge Commissioners to adopt Hearing Examiners’ recommendation and hold an open meeting to discuss Blackstone’s buyout – and then join us in the fight against corporate control by joining us as a YUCCA member and helping us build the collective power we need to take on and win fights like this for years to come.