What was that expression that came out of the WEF?

Editor's note: "You will own nothing, shut your mouth and be happy", wasn't that what was said or something along those lines? Of course, by now everyone has heard BlackRock's Larry Fink will be moving his offices over to the WEF where he will become interim co-chairman of the WEF (leadership position). Fink is one of three men who "own corporate America" and these corporations have big plans (see How Markets Are Manipulated) for you considering Fink was at the W7 summit where he told leaders of respective countries what they must do. The CEO of the largest private equity firm in the history of the world "telling governments what they must do" in a growth dilemma? Come on US senate and congress, get that "End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act" passed before BlackRock's investments go through the roof and Americans find themselves selling vegetables to each other on street corners. 

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BlackRock's bid for Minnesota Power worries consumer advocates

Some environmentalists are optimistic the large private equity firm could accelerate the state’s transition to carbon-free power

By Brian Martucci | August 19, 2025

Private equity shops have earned outsized returns on investments in health care, telecommunications and housing — with mixed results for consumers.

Now, they may be running the same playbook on the once-sleepy utility business, with BlackRock’s proposed takeover of the parent company of Duluth-based Minnesota Power as a key test case. Public filings in the hotly contested matter show ratepayer advocates, labor unions, environmental groups and major customers of Minnesota Power on different sides of the issue.

At the heart of the matter is a simple question: Is it a good or bad thing for the world’s largest asset manager to have a controlling stake in a regional utility?

A private equity buyout of the electric utility serving large swathes of northern Minnesota could weaken its finances and jeopardize its compliance with Minnesota’s carbon-free power standard — while raising rates and reducing reliability for more than 150,000 customers, administrative law judge Megan J. McKenzie said on July 15. McKenzie's lengthy report called on the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission — or the PUC — to reject the proposed deal.

Private equity giant BlackRock, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Minnesota Power’s parent company clapped back on Aug. 4 in a detailed rebuttal. They called the judge's nonbinding report "not an accurate or balanced summary or analysis of the record" and said it "does not even attempt to provide a meaningful discussion of the evidence, arguments, and counterarguments."

The dueling filings represent the latest volleys in a bitterly contested proceeding before the PUC. The saga dates back to last May, when the Canadian pension group and an infrastructure investment firm then in the process of merging with BlackRock announced an agreement to buy Allete, a publicly traded company that owns Minnesota Power, a smaller Wisconsin utility and other energy assets. The commission has veto power over public utility mergers in Minnesota.

If the proposed deal closes, BlackRock-controlled Global Infrastructure Partners would own 60% of Allete and the pension board 40%, the Minnesota Department of Commerce said in a filing last August.

"The private equity industry has cultivated a reputation for being a very extractive actor in the marketplace," said Karlee Weinmann, research and communications manager for the Energy and Policy Institute, a utility watchdog that is not directly involved in the proceeding.

"We know that the playbook is to quote-unquote streamline these companies…so this is a fearsome prospect for workers and consumers," Weinmann added.

Advocates: Deep pockets allow for energy transition

Labor unions, clean energy groups and Allete argue that deep-pocketed owners enable rather than curtail the massive investments in new energy generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure Minnesota Power needs to meet a state mandate to produce 100% of its electricity from carbon-free sources by 2040.

"This transaction will not impact our ability to meet Minnesota's carbon-free goals. On the contrary, this is why the acquisition is needed," Minnesota Power spokesperson Amy Rutledge said in an email. "Advancing the clean-energy future requires significant investment and the long-term, experienced investors we have chosen as partners will give us the access to capital needed for this energy transition."

St. Paul-based nonprofit Fresh Energy agreed in an Aug. 4 filing and an Aug. 6 blog post, saying in the latter that the merger "would significantly mitigate risk to the transition to clean energy in Minnesota — an outcome that is in direct alignment with Fresh Energy's mission."

In the Aug. 6 post, Fresh Energy said risks to Minnesota Power's transition have increased since January as congressional Republicans and the Trump administration unwound federal support for renewable energy and slapped tariffs on imported cars, energy equipment, raw materials and more. Trump’s tariffs disproportionately impacted the utility's base of large industrial customers, including two taconite mines idled this year, Fresh Energy said.

Allete's latest earnings report showed electricity sales to taconite customers fell to 28% of total sales in the second quarter of 2025, from 35% a year earlier.

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