Hundreds showed up last night to tell the PRC: Blackstone is not welcome in New Mexico!

Last night more than 400 New Mexicans showed up at the PRC public comment hearing about the Blackstone buyout of PNM and spoke loud and clear: Blackstone is not wanted in New Mexico. More than 300 people came in person and signed up, but only about 70 got a chance to speak! Well over 100 were waiting online on zoom and not one of them got the chance. People were lined up outside in the hallway because the room could not contain everyone. People listened from the parking lot. Protesters held signs up to the windows outside the hearing room. This excellent article in the Santa Fe New Mexican captured the scene clearly, and it was reported as well in the Abq Journal.

Just three people spoke in favor, arguing that New Mexico will need access to capital to make the energy transition we need. But that argument is a red herring - PNM, like other utilities, does not have any problem accessing the capital it needs for infrastructure that has guaranteed cost recovery from ratepayers. Utilities are one of the safest investments out there. There is absolutely no strength in this argument.

More savvy New Mexicans called Blackstone "sophisticated thieves," pointing out that the company has armies of lawyers and layers of corporate holding companies, all designed to stymie regulatory oversight and extract more from their assets. Another compared the company to an abusive boyfriend, tempting with false promises but resulting in nothing but pain. Bottom line, New Mexicans made it clear: we do not want a company like Blackstone controlling our energy and our future.

Commissioners clearly did not expect the outpouring of opposition - the room was too small and the hearing was too short. Angry residents were left frustrated when the PRC announced that further comments would be heard next week on Thursday, February 12th after the regular open meeting. A specific time for those comments has not yet been announced. Commissioner Aguilera told the public "By the number of people here, it's clear that you understand the significance of the case." Given that significance, it is critical that the PRC plan appropriately to allow the people to speak.

Now for the alternative! You can take action to get the legislature to look seriously at the alternative to the private-profit utility model.  SM 9 calls for the Legislative Finance Committee and others to study the potential benefits if the State Investment Council purchased an equity interest in our existing utilities, providing the state with the same low-risk, high returns on investment that the utilities' current shareholders have received; and giving the state the opportunity to influence business policies and practices that better serve and protect the interest of New Mexicans. This approach is a common sense alternative to selling both our gas and electric utilities to predatory private-equity companies but the memorial needs to get on the agenda for a vote!