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NM Gas Company Buyout
On October 28th, 2024 Bernhard Capital Partners (BCP), a private equity firm, applied to the PRC for permission to buy out NM Gas Company for $1.25 billion. New Energy Economy intervened because the buyout risks the following harms to New Mexicans:
* Lack of transparency
* Higher rates to pay off debts incurred in the leveraged buyout
* Potential impacts to reliability and service quality as BCP seeks to cut costs and necessary repairs to boost short term profit margins. Case updates below.
ABQ Journal Admits: We might have made a mistake. Now we must make the best of it.
On Thursday the PRC will make a momentous decision - do they concur with the Hearing Examiners (HE) who found that Blackstone and PNM broke the law when they deliberately chose not to get prior approval before consummating their $400M stock transaction, and critically, what impact will that have on Blackstone's plan to buy our electric utility. The HE politely suggested that Blackstone and PNM should resubmit their application. We have argued that because the HE found that th
Jun 30
Bombshell Abq Journal Report: Behind redactions, PRC examiners hide doubts about NM Gas Company Sale to private equity investors
On Sunday the Albuquerque Journal revealed that despite publicly endorsing Bernhard Capital Partners (BCP)'s buyout of NM Gas Company, Hearing Examiners (HE) had reservations about whether the deal would preserve PRC oversight authority but hid those concerns from public view. A version of the Hearing Examiners' order that enabled recipients to uncover redacted portions was mistakenly emailed to parties and posted online where it was discovered by reporter Justin Horwath. Thi
Jun 23
A run on Blackstone?
Yesterday we filed exceptions calling out the deeply flawed Recommended Decision by the Hearing Examiners in the Bernhard Capital Partners acquisition of New Mexico Gas Company. Our filing raises again the core issue - Hearing Examiners disallowed any evidence about BCP's history and qualifications into the record and then concluded that there wasn't sufficient evidence that a BCP buyout would negatively impact NM Gas Customers. You think? The Hearing Examiners themselves don
Jun 4
Hearing Examiners ignore evidence of Delta Utility malfeasance and recommend private equity buyout of NM Gas Company
Today we filed our Brief in Chief in the Blackstone Show Cause hearing, making a simple argument because the law about illegal merger-related stock acquisitions is clear and the evidence is there in black and white. We conclude: This case does not present a sprawling or complicated inquiry. It turns on three straightforward questions that the Commission must answer in sequence. First, is the Stock Purchase Agreement (PIPE) void and of no effect under NMSA 1978, § 62-6-12? Se
May 20
New Evidence: Gas Customers in Louisiana facing sudden 1000% increases in their gas bills after BCP takeover. We filed a Motion to Reopen the Case.
Yesterday New Energy Economy filed a Motion urging the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (NMPRC) to reopen the record in the pending case involving the proposed acquisition of New Mexico Gas Company by affiliates of Bernhard Capital Partners (BCP), citing newly emerged evidence of catastrophic billing failures at Delta Utilities, a gas utility acquired by BCP just six months ago. Customers of Delta Utilities in Louisiana have reported shocking increases in gas bills—ra
Jan 23
Together, we must ensure that our economy, our utilities, our water, land, and resources serve the people of New Mexico
As we close out this milestone year—our 20th anniversary—we are reflecting on our mission, what we have accomplished, what remains ahead, and the extraordinary moment we are living through. The climate crisis is accelerating, and the fossil fuel industry is responding not with restraint, but with unprecedented expansion - doubling down on oil, gas, a suite of dangerous “advanced energy” schemes that threaten our water, health, and democratic rights, and threats of war in Vene
Dec 23, 2025
PRC denies our interlocutory appeal, setting a dangerous precedent for future cases and failing in its duty to New Mexico
Today the whole point of our Motion for Interlocutory Appeal was ignored when PRC Commissioners focused exclusively on whether the violations we managed to uncover through independent research were damning or relevant to their decision about Bernhard Capital Partners, and not on the much more important question: What do we NOT KNOW ABOUT because the Hearing Examiner's failed to grant our Motion to Compel and require Bernhard Capital Partners to respond to our discovery questi
Dec 18, 2025
We filed our Brief in Chief. The people filed theirs.
Yesterday we filed our Brief in Chief in the Bernhard Capital Partners buyout case, delivering our final legal arguments recommending against the deal, and laying out the requirements the PRC should impose should they decide to do so. But today the public showed up to make their own arguments, and they did not disappoint! The people called out the dangers of private equity, the impact of likely rate increases on seniors and the working poor, and the absurdity of allowing th
Dec 11, 2025
We will not be ignored. NEE files last minute Interlocutory Appeal to PRC after Hearing Examiners fail to respond to Emergency Motion
Yesterday we filed an Interlocutory Appeal directly to the PRC after the Hearing Examiners in the Bernhard Capital Partners case failed to respond to our Emergency Motion seeking to remedy their defective rulings during the hearing in November and the PRC has already issued an order asking other parties to respond. This interlocutory appeal matters because the Hearing Examiners’ evidentiary rulings undermine the very foundation of the Commission’s constitutional and statuto
Dec 4, 2025
NEE files an Emergency Motion for Leave to Seek Interlocutory Appeal after Hearing Examiners fail to allow evidence into BCP case record
On Friday New Energy Economy took the extraordinary step of filing an Emergency Motion for Leave to Seek Interlocutory Appeal in the Bernhard Capital Partners case. Our Motion was filed after Hearing Examiners in the case ruled repeatedly and defectively to refuse to allow discovery and evidence of BCP’s history and operations at BCP-owned companies into the record, to require one of our expert witnesses to testify as a lay person despite being a lawyer for 15 years and spe
Nov 17, 2025
PRC Commissioner has to point out to a BCP executive that a gas utility is not like a Burger King
First, reporting back from the BCP buyout of New Mexico Gas Company hearing, we wanted to share this important point made by PRC Commissioner Aguilera to BCP Executive Jeffrey Baudier: a gas utility is not like a Burger King. It has captive customers that do not have a choice about where they can purchase their gas, and therefore those ratepayers have more at stake than burger joint customers. That is why the comparative difference between the $200M acquisition premium being
Nov 6, 2025
Today is the day folks. Cross examination of Bernhard Capital Partners Jeffrey Baudier.
Today the Bernhard Capital Partner (BCP) acquisition hearing begins. You can listen in on the proceedings via Youtube here at 9:00AM, starting with the cross examination of Jeffrey Baudier, the erstwhile CEO of the new venture, famed for his leadership at the failed Petra Nova carbon capture plant that resulted in very little carbon captured and the loss of more than 300 million in public funds. He will be crossed first by Peter Gould representing NM AREA, and then Mariel wi
Nov 3, 2025
New Mexicans showed up to tell the PRC that experience and accountability matter.. and BCP has shown none.
What happens when an inexperienced and profit driven gas company cuts costs and fails to properly maintain its facilities and operations? On Tuesday dozens of New Mexicans showed up to the PRC's public comment hearing about Bernhard Capital Partner's bid to buy New Mexico Gas Company and asked that very important question. How can a private equity company focused exclusively on profit, and with just three months experience running a gas utility, be trusted to provide safe an
Oct 31, 2025
NM Supreme Court Abdicates Responsibility to Ensure PRC Holds Ratepayers Harmless
The New Mexico Supreme Court's decision last week to allow the PRC's Final order in Case No. 22-00270-UT to stand sends all regulated...
Oct 1, 2025
We filed a Motion to Compel and requested sanctions against BCP for failure to questions about violations and penalties
Yesterday, in response to Bernhard Capital Partner's previously reported refusal to respond to interrogatories related to violations and...
Sep 4, 2025
From BCP to Blackstone, private equity is abusing the regulatory system to raise utility rates and burn more fossil fuels for profit
Last week, after requesting an extension, Bernhard Capital Partners (BCP), the private equity firm trying to take over NM Gas Company,...
Sep 3, 2025
Decisions by regulators at WQCC and PRC put industry and private equity investors above the people
As we reported briefly last week, a coalition of fracking waste reuse proponents hypocritically calling themselves the Water Access...
Jul 9, 2025
BCP Buyout of NM Gas Derailed after our Joint Motion to Dismiss. Also Sign our petition to end EMNRD's gaslighting. Hydrogen is not Zero-Carbon!
As we reported last week, New Energy Economy joined the New Mexico Department of Justice, and other advocates in a motion to dismiss or...
Jun 12, 2025
We moved to dismiss BCP buyout of NM Gas Company as Blackstone announces plan to buy PNM
Last week Blackstone Infrastructure announced its plan to acquire TXNM, PNM's parent company for $11.5 billion . Blackstone (not to be...
May 27, 2025
Testimony Opposing Bernhard Capital Partners Acquisition of NM Gas Company filed today. Bottom line: The Sale Offers No Public Benefit
Today we filed testimony opposing Bernhard Capital Partner (BCP)'s proposed acquisition of NM Gas Company. In his testimony our expert,...
Apr 18, 2025
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