PNM sale clears a hurdle as regulators pass on Zimmer stock probe

The fight over who will own the company that keeps the lights on for most of the Albuquerque metro area is headed back into the hearing room.

On Friday, Oct. 16, hearing examiners for the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission declined to open an investigation into a roughly $200 million sale of TXNM Energy stock to New York investment firm Zimmer Partners. In a second order the same day, they allowed TXNM — the Albuquerque-based parent of Public Service Company of New Mexico — and Blackstone Infrastructure to refile their acquisition application with richer customer benefits and paperwork showing that an earlier, illegal stock sale between the two companies has been unwound.

Taken together, the rulings remove the last procedural obstacle that had stalled the case since summer. The PRC is scheduled to hold a status conference this week to set a calendar for a weeklong hearing on whether the $11.5 billion deal serves the public interest.

For the roughly 550,000 PNM customers in Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Santa Fe, Las Cruces and other communities, the outcome will determine whether New Mexico's largest electric utility passes from public shareholders into the hands of one of the world's biggest private equity firms.

Why the Zimmer sale mattered

The Zimmer question grew out of a ruling that rattled the deal in July.

On the same day Blackstone and TXNM signed their merger agreement in May 2025, a Blackstone holding company bought 8 million newly issued TXNM shares for about $400 million, giving it a 7.59% stake. Albuquerque nonprofit Prosperity Works challenged the purchase, arguing state law bars anyone from taking a stake in a utility for the purpose of an acquisition without the commission's prior approval.

Hearing examiners agreed in June, and on July 2 the commission voted 2-1 to order the sale reversed. Commissioners Pat O'Connell and Gabriel Aguilera formed the majority; Commissioner Greg Nibert dissented, warning that forcing the companies to repay the money would strain TXNM's finances and, in turn, its ratepayers. The order fined TXNM $100,000 and Blackstone affiliates $200,000.

"You've got to follow the law or else the regulatory compact doesn't work," O'Connell said at the time.

Weeks after the Blackstone purchase, in June 2025, TXNM sold about 3.6 million shares — roughly $200 million worth — to Zimmer Partners and affiliated funds. Like the Blackstone agreement, the Zimmer contract committed the buyer to vote its shares in favor of the merger. Santa Fe-based New Energy Economy and the New Mexico Consumer Protection Alliance argued that made the Zimmer sale another piece of the same financing structure and asked the PRC to investigate it, too.

The examiners disagreed, calling the Zimmer deal "fundamentally different." They found no comparable evidence that Zimmer took part in the acquisition process or bought shares as part of a merger. A PRC spokesperson, Patrick Rodriguez, said the firm acted on its own, had no ties to Blackstone and bought its shares only after the merger agreement had been signed. TXNM had previously described Zimmer as a longtime investor in the company.

New Energy Economy executive director Mariel Nanasi called the voting language in the Zimmer contract "damning evidence," but said she understood the examiners' reasoning and argued the request had been worth making.

A bigger offer on the table

The second order is the one with direct consequences for monthly bills.

When the companies first filed in August 2025, they offered a $105 million rate credit spread over four years — about $3.51 a month, or roughly $168 total, for an average residential customer — plus $10 million for PNM's Good Neighbor Fund and $60 million for economic development and energy transition programs. Critics, led by New Energy Economy, dismissed the credits as too small and noted the package lacked a rate freeze, a common feature of utility takeovers.

In September, TXNM and Blackstone asked permission to revise those terms. The sweetened package now on track for review includes:

• $220 million in direct customer rate credits, more than double the original offer
• $40 million for workforce and economic development
• $25 million for infrastructure upgrades
• $15 million for the Good Neighbor Fund, which helps low-income households pay their bills

The companies have also pledged to hold TXNM for at least 10 years, keep PNM headquartered and managed in New Mexico, and honor existing union contracts with IBEW workers. TXNM said Friday it still believes the sale is the right choice for New Mexico; Blackstone said it was pleased to move forward.

The local stakes

The case has drawn some of the largest public turnouts the PRC has seen. Protesters have rallied repeatedly outside PNM's Downtown Albuquerque headquarters, and public comment sessions — including one at the University of New Mexico Student Union — have been dominated by opponents worried that private equity ownership will push rates higher. At the July hearing, when the commission chair asked the crowd who supported the deal, no one raised a hand. Albuquerque City Councilor Stephanie Telles has spoken against the merger, while a handful of lawmakers, including Rep. Meredith Dixon of Albuquerque, have backed it as an economic development opportunity.

The companies argue Blackstone's capital is needed as PNM races to meet the 2019 Energy Transition Act's goal of carbon-free power by 2040 and to upgrade an aging grid. Opponents counter that a buyer seeking private-equity-scale returns will ultimately recover its investment from ratepayers.

New Mexicans have been here before. In 2021, the PRC unanimously rejected Avangrid's bid for PNM, a decision in which New Energy Economy's opposition played a central role. The current commission — now three appointed members rather than five elected ones — has also already ruled on a private equity utility takeover: it voted 2-1 this year to let Louisiana-based Bernhard Capital Partners buy New Mexico Gas Co. for $1.25 billion. Aguilera dissented in that case, saying the risks outweighed the benefits. That deal included about $22.4 million in rate credits for the gas utility's roughly 553,000 customers — a fraction of what Blackstone is now offering PNM customers.

What comes next

• Status conference (this week): The PRC will set a procedural schedule for the refiled application.
• Merits hearing: A weeklong evidentiary hearing will follow, after which examiners will issue a recommended decision for the three commissioners.
• Commission vote: Commissioners can accept, modify or reject the recommendation. The deal also still needs approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
• Deadline: TXNM and Blackstone extended their merger agreement in July to May 31, 2027, to allow time for regulatory approval.

The PRC accepts public comment on the case by email at public.comment@prc.nm.gov.

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