Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Karlee Weinmann @karleeweinmann.bsky.social · 3d

Huge endorsement by my garden for @ehbforbet.bsky.social

Karlee Weinmann @karleeweinmann.bsky.social · 4d

Opponents of this private equity takeover include consumer advocates like the Attorney General, state lawmakers, utility customers, environmental groups, large power users, and a judge who reviewed the terms of the transaction. And yet!

More Perfect Union @moreperfectunion.bsky.social · 4d

BREAKING: The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission has voted to let BlackRock buy Allete, the company that runs Minnesota Power.

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Reposted by Karlee Weinmann

Lenore Palladino @lenorepalladino.bsky.social · 4d

so BlackRock is buying Minnesota Power (utility) & likely AES (utility) AND Aligned Data Centers

& that's just this week

cool cool

David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 4d

Today Minnesota's Public Utilities Commission approved the sale of Minnesota Power to a BlackRock-led consortium, ignoring the recommendation of an Administrative Law Judge.

David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 6d

BlackRock is leading a consortium buying Minnesota Power in a private equity foray into utilities. The decision will be made tomorrow. Meanwhile, Gov. Walz's Department of Commerce flipped to supporting the deal, & emails show numerous contacts with the acquisition’s supporters. From James Baratta:

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Karlee Weinmann @karleeweinmann.bsky.social · 4d

In approving this deal, Minnesota regulators made a very big bet that private equity ownership of a monopoly electric utility will yield vastly different results from private equity ownership in basically every other sector

Minnesota Star Tribune @startribune.com · 4d

Duluth-based Allete said its sale to BlackRock would ease the transition to carbon-free energy. Opponents say it will be bad for customers.

Private equity giant will control northern Minnesota’s biggest power company, after state approves deal

Duluth-based Allete said its sale to BlackRock would ease the transition to carbon-free energy. Opponents say it will be bad for customers.

bit.ly

Karlee Weinmann @karleeweinmann.bsky.social · 5d

The utility serving Indianapolis could be next to be swept up in BlackRock's spending spree on utilities, a prospect that has local ratepayer advocates "extremely concerned" www.ibj.com/articles/as-...

As private equity pursues public utilities, reports say BlackRock subsidiary wants to buy AES - Indianapolis Business Journal

BlackRock’s interest in AES represents a growing trend of private equity firms investing in, or buying outright, public utility companies as artificial intelligence fuels increasing electricity demand...

www.ibj.com

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Reposted by Karlee Weinmann

David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 6d

BlackRock is leading a consortium buying Minnesota Power in a private equity foray into utilities. The decision will be made tomorrow. Meanwhile, Gov. Walz's Department of Commerce flipped to supporting the deal, & emails show numerous contacts with the acquisition’s supporters. From James Baratta:

Private Equity Power Play in Minnesota

BlackRock-owned Global Infrastructure Partners and a Canadian pension giant want to buy a Minnesota-based utility. Gov. Tim Walz’s agencies have been in on pushing the deal.

prospect.org

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Karlee Weinmann @karleeweinmann.bsky.social · 6d

A group of state lawmakers is urging the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to deny BlackRock's controversial bid to take over Minnesota Power, saying among other things that "the risks and harms would outweigh the minimal, short-term benefits" efiling.web.commerce.state.mn.us/documents/%7...

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Karlee Weinmann @karleeweinmann.bsky.social · 7d

The same BlackRock subsidiary that’s trying to buy Minnesota Power over the objections of consumer advocates is also trying to buy AES, which has electric utilities in Indiana and Ohio www.reuters.com/markets/deal...

BlackRock's GIP nears $38 billion takeover of utility group AES, FT reports

BlackRock-owned Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) is nearing a $38 billion deal, inclusive of debt, to acquire utility group AES , the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing people briefed on the matter.

www.reuters.com

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Reposted by Karlee Weinmann

Energy and Policy Institute @energyandpolicy.org · 9d

New from @apnews.com: A fight has erupted in northern MN over the proposed private equity buyout of Duluth-based utility Minnesota Power. If approved, the sale could determine how private equity firms expand their utility holdings amid a rush to cash in on data centers. apnews.com/article/big-...

Private equity sees profits in power utilities as electric bills rise and Big Tech seeks more energy

Private investment firms that are helping finance America’s artificial intelligence race and the huge buildout of energy-hungry data centers are getting interested in the local utilities that deliver ...

apnews.com

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Reposted by Karlee Weinmann

Karlee Weinmann @karleeweinmann.bsky.social · 11d

Private equity firms are looking to buy electric utilities for a simple reason: there’s money to be made, and potentially quite a lot of it, on the backs of captive utility customers apnews.com/article/big-...

Private equity sees profits in power utilities as electric bills rise and Big Tech seeks more energy

Private investment firms that are helping finance America’s artificial intelligence race and the huge buildout of energy-hungry data centers are getting interested in the local utilities that deliver ...

apnews.com

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Karlee Weinmann @karleeweinmann.bsky.social · 11d

Private equity firms are looking to buy electric utilities for a simple reason: there’s money to be made, and potentially quite a lot of it, on the backs of captive utility customers apnews.com/article/big-...

Private equity sees profits in power utilities as electric bills rise and Big Tech seeks more energy

Private investment firms that are helping finance America’s artificial intelligence race and the huge buildout of energy-hungry data centers are getting interested in the local utilities that deliver ...

apnews.com

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Karlee Weinmann @karleeweinmann.bsky.social · 11d

A utility regulator had the audacity to scrutinize (and even reject) proposed rate hikes, and the utilities came for her job. A shameful indictment of a regulatory system complicit in incessant rate increases that drive profits for utility shareholders. boondoggle.substack.com/p/monopoly-u...

Monopoly Utilities Ousted America's Best Regulator

Bummer news for utility bills.

boondoggle.substack.com

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Reposted by Karlee Weinmann

Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 12d

Netanyahu bragged about hijacking cell phones in Gaza to force the Palestinians he's starving to hear a speech that half the United Nations walked out on. What more can you say

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Reposted by Karlee Weinmann

Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 12d

Excellent reporting from Heated and Atmos.

It looks like some of the biggest investors in the anti-trans movement are fossil fuel billionaires who are trying to use trans issues to ensure that Republicans pass policies favorable to their industry.

heated.world/p/fossil-fue...

Fossil fuel billionaires are bankrolling the anti-trans movement

An investigation shared exclusively with Atmos and HEATED finds that 80% of anti-trans organizations receive fossil fuel funding.

heated.world

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Karlee Weinmann @karleeweinmann.bsky.social · 13d

"BlackRock has a long history of investing in companies that trample tribal sovereignty. When profit is at stake, Indigenous rights are dismissed. That’s why Minnesotans should be deeply concerned about this proposed takeover of Minnesota Power." www.duluthnewstribune.com/opinion/colu...

Local View: A warning from South Texas: don't trust BlackRock with Minnesota Power

Indigenous communities have seen the damage of BlackRock’s fossil-fuel agenda

www.duluthnewstribune.com

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Reposted by Karlee Weinmann

Caleb Heeringa @calebheeringa.bsky.social · 14d

Philadelphia's got a citywide commitment to decarbonization and a publicly owned methane gas utility that is making their customers pay for ad campaigns aimed at expanding gas use. "Why is a company that has no competition, why do they have to market at all?" YUP whyy.org/articles/pgw...

Why does PGW spend ratepayer money to promote natural gas as 'clean' energy?

Utility records show Philadelphia Gas Works spent $4.2 million on promotions over a 14-month period ending in November 2024.

whyy.org

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Karlee Weinmann @karleeweinmann.bsky.social · 14d

This @moreperfectunion.bsky.social deep dive on BlackRock's controversial bid to take over Minnesota Power and its insidious campaign to own literally everything remains required viewing www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwTx...

The BlackRock Situation Just Got Worse...

YouTube video by More Perfect Union

www.youtube.com

Karlee Weinmann @karleeweinmann.bsky.social · 14d

BlackRock and other private equity firms are increasingly circling utilities, whose infrastructure buildout to accommodate data centers stands to net them a profit at the expense of their customers www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/b...

Wall St. Firms Are Buying Utilities to Tap Into the A.I. Boom

www.nytimes.com

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Karlee Weinmann @karleeweinmann.bsky.social · 14d

Quite an interesting revelation here given that this data center would be served by Minnesota Power, the utility that BlackRock is trying to acquire as it seeks to cash in on every part of the AI gold rush

Walker Orenstein @walkerorenstein.bsky.social · 14d

A massive development proposal that Hermantown is describing only as a “communication services facility” was identified as a data center in a January letter sent to city officials. Story w/
@janahollingsworth.bsky.social : www.startribune.com/northern-min...

Northern Minnesota mystery project identified as data center

Mystery has been swirling around the project for months amid zoning changes and offers to buy homes.

www.startribune.com

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Reposted by Karlee Weinmann

Canary Media Inc. @canarymedia.com · 15d

The @sierraclub.org has been tracking U.S. utilities’ climate progress for five years. They’re doing worse now than ever before.

Utilities are doing even worse on climate than they were five years…

Major U.S. utilities earn an "F" on a new report card because they're planning to build far too little clean energy and far too many gas-fired power…

www.canarymedia.com

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Reposted by Karlee Weinmann

Grist @grist.org · 19d

Who pays for wildfire damage? In the West, utilities are shifting the risk to customers.

Utah laws cap wildfire damages and let utilities pass the cost onto customers. Utility lobbyists are pushing the model in other states.

grist.org/wildfires/wh...

#utilities #CA #California #Policy #Wildfire

Who pays for wildfire damage? In the West, utilities are shifting the risk to customers

Utah laws cap wildfire damages and let utilities pass the cost onto customers. Utility lobbyists are pushing the model in other states.

grist.org

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Reposted by Karlee Weinmann

Energy and Policy Institute @energyandpolicy.org · 18d

St. Louis's utility provider, Ameren, almost tripled disconnections from July to August after it ended a tornado-prompted disconnection pause. This led to the Board of Aldermen passing a resolution calling for them to do more to protect customers. www.stlpr.org/health-scien...

Board of Aldermen urges Ameren to pause St. Louis disconnections as shutoffs spike since tornado

New data shows Ameren disconnected more than 14,000 people in August, soon after ending a pause for residents affected by the tornado. The St. Louis Board of Aldermen on Friday passed a resolution cal...

www.stlpr.org

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Reposted by Karlee Weinmann

David Pomerantz @davidpomerantz.bsky.social · 18d

Marissa Gillett, possibly the best utility regulator in the country, resigned from the Connecticut PURA this morning. She was forced out by Connecticut’s investor-owned utilities, who finally won their years-long, scorching campaign to oust her. A thread here about Gillett:

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Karlee Weinmann @karleeweinmann.bsky.social · 18d

Proponents of BlackRock's takeover of Minnesota Power like to note the state Dept of Commerce supports the deal. But AG Ellison's office and others say many of the provisions that got Commerce on board are either already required or provide no benefit efiling.web.commerce.state.mn.us/documents/%7...

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Reposted by Karlee Weinmann

Jon Collins @jcollins.bsky.social · 19d

I talked to the four main Minneapolis mayoral candidates on some of the biggest crises facing the city and how they hope to govern if elected: www.mprnews.org/story/2025/0...

Four candidates for Minneapolis mayor weigh in on major issues facing the city

Early in-person voting starts Friday as residents pick who they want to lead Minneapolis for the next four years.

www.mprnews.org

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