Opponents ask New Mexico utility regulators to review whether PNM waived multimillion payout

An Albuquerque anti-poverty nonprofit is asking state utility regulators to order a hearing over whether the parent company of New Mexico’s largest electric provider forfeited a $350 million payment from the private equity firm looking to acquire it.

In a filing with the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission Monday, attorneys for Prosperity Works argue that TXNM Energy Inc., which owns PNM, could have collected $350 million from private equity firm Blackstone Infrastructure in July when regulators shot down a controversial stock sale between the two companies.

Commissioners last month voted 2-1 that a $400 million stock sale between TXNM and a Blackstone subsidiary violated state law because the parties did not first obtain PRC approval. After the vote, the commission ordered both sides to unwind the deal. In the Monday filing, Prosperity Works’ attorneys argue that the merger agreement between TXNM and Blackstone includes a provision to let TXNM collect a $350 million merger termination fee if the stock purchase did not go through.

Prosperity Works attorney Steve Michel said that PNM’s share of that would be $240 million. He argued that it would translate to a yearlong 16% rate reduction for PNM customers.

Since PNM and Blackstone announced plans for the $11.5 billion acquisition in 2025, officials from both companies have often said it was the best way to inject cash into New Mexico’s outdated electric grid.

“You’re a company that’s perpetually complaining that you don’t have enough money, and you’re just walking away from this $350 million cash infusion?” Michel said.

New Mexico residents turn out to UNM campus to weigh in on proposed private equity takeover of PNM

A spokesperson for Blackstone declined to comment. A spokesperson for PNM in an email to Source NM called Michel’s arguments “incorrect.”

“We did not have a legal basis to collect a termination fee from Blackstone Infrastructure,” the statement said. “We will respond through the Commission process and look forward to demonstrating the long-term benefits of the transaction to New Mexico and the communities we serve.”

A hearing will only move forward if the PRC schedules one. Prosperity Works successfully pushed for one related to the controversial stock sale earlier this year.

Prosperity Works and New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez earlier this year raised questions about the $400 million stock sale’s legality, which prompted the commission’s hearing examiners to open an investigation into the matter in March and to hold a lengthy hearing in April.