ENERGY
Nonprofit wants TXNM to hand $240 million to customers over 鈥榳aived鈥� Blackstone termination fee
Prosperity Works says company should have pursued the claim after regulators voided a stock sale
An Albuquerque nonprofit wants TXNM Energy Inc. to dole out $240 million in rate credits to customers after state regulators voided a $400 million sale in the utility company鈥檚 stock to Blackstone Inc.
In a Monday filing with the Public Regulation Commission, Albuquerque-based Prosperity Works cites a $350 million termination fee baked into an agreement for private equity firm Blackstone Inc. to purchase TXNM for $11.5 billion. Prosperity Works argues that TXNM should pursue that fee, and give nearly 70% of it to New Mexico ratepayers.
鈥淭XNM chose not to pursue that claim, however, and in fact waived the claim, presumably so it could keep pursuing the Blackstone merger proposal,鈥� Prosperity Works, an intervenor in the case, said in a news release. 鈥淭he waiver of a viable $350 million claim, Prosperity Works contends, was imprudent, compromised the public interest and harmed PNM customers.鈥�
Prosperity Works is the group whose motion in February 鈥� asking TXNM and Blackstone to show why the $400 million stock sale in 2025 was not illegal 鈥� triggered a series of regulatory hearings. The PRC in early July ruled that the stock sale violated a state law prohibiting utility mergers without PRC approval, ordered the companies to unwind the sale and fined them $300,000 collectively.
The stock sale gave Blackstone a 7.59% stake in TXNM. TXNM, which owns the state鈥檚 largest electric utility, Public Service Company of New Mexico, said it entered into a $400 million loan to repurchase the shares from Blackstone.
Prosperity Works鈥� motion on the stock sale set back the case schedule several months. But it did not kill the deal; TXNM and Blackstone last month extended the deadline in their merger agreement through May 2027.
The three-member PRC is the last regulatory agency standing in the way of the merger. The proposed sale has already won sign-offs from several other bodies, including the Public Utility Commission of Texas, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Federal Communications Commission.
Blackstone declined to comment on Prosperity Works鈥� latest filing.
In a statement, TXNM spokesperson Eric Chavez said the position taken by Prosperity Works is 鈥渋ncorrect.鈥�
鈥淲e did not have a legal basis to collect a termination fee from Blackstone Infrastructure,鈥� Chavez said. 鈥淲e 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.鈥�
Justin Horwath covers tech and energy at the Journal. He can be reached at jhorwath@abqjournal.com.
