From the Associated Press via Yahoo Finance, October 3:
Minnesota regulators voted unanimously Friday to approve an investment group's takeover of a power company over the objections of the state attorney general, big industrial electricity buyers and consumer advocates.
In voting for the takeover of Duluth-based Minnesota, the five members of the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission said they believe the conditions imposed on the deal will protect the public interest and shield customers from rate increases. Opponents warned that the private equity group is only interested in squeezing bigger profits from regular ratepayers.
The approval came as electricity bills are rising fast across the U.S., and growing evidence suggests the bills of some residential customers are increasing to subsidize the rapid build-out of power plants and power lines to supply the gargantuan energy needs of Big Tech’s data centers and the boom in artificial intelligence.
Raising the stakes is the potential that Google could build a data center in Minnesota Power’s territory in the northern part of the state, a lucrative prospect for the utility's owner.
Opponents also expressed fear that the sale would encourage more such deals across the U.S.
Under the planned buyout, a BlackRock subsidiary and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board will take over the publicly traded company Allete, parent of Minnesota Power, which provides power to 150,000 customers and owns a variety of power sources, including coal, gas, wind and solar....
....MUCH MORE
Previously:
May 2024 - Infrastructure: BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners Co-Leads Purchase Of U.S. Electric Utility
Most recently on BlackRock:
October 3 - BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners Circling $40 Billion Data Center Purchase (BLK)
And on CPP:
October 3 - Electricity: Canada Pension Plan Investments Buys A Piece Of U.S. Independent Power Producer AlphaGen For $1 Billion
