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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.

CURE petition for Minnesota Power acquisition to be reconsidered denied by MPUC

DULUTH, Minn. — Opposition of the potential sale of Minnesota Power held a press conference today This is the latest response to the news of Minnesota Power and Allete’s potential acquisition by Global Infrastructure Partners, a BlackRock company, and C.P.P. Investments. The sale, which would take Minnesota Power off the publicly owned market, is seeing opposition from groups like The...

Kaomi Lee on the secrecy over “Project Loon” and bipartisan support for transparency.

Most supporters of a proposed private equity takeover of Minnesota Power’s parent company have financial ties to the company.

After local officials nuked public trust by signing NDAs, a grassroots movement emerged to stop the tech giant’s sprawling, $650 million hyperscale complex in suburban Duluth.

From the column: "These corporations and their shareholders don’t ... take the climate crisis seriously ... when there’s money to be made from furthering the climate crisis."

🚨 The proposed sale of ALLETE/Minnesota Power to private equity firms could drastically impact electricity rates ⚡ and service reliability for 150,000 residents. 🌍 CURE's Hudson Kingston lays out the massive implications this deal could have on Minnesota’s energy future and the lack of transparenc

Environmental groups have urged the Duluth-based utility not to replace one fossil fuel with another amid human-caused climate change.

Environmental organization CURE is asking the Public Utilities Commission to investigate the Minnesota Power sale further, given new information about data centers in the region.

Revelations about undisclosed data center project in utility’s territory raises community concerns  On December 30, 2025, CURE formally petitioned the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to reassess its approval of the sale of ALLETE, the parent company of Minnesota Power, to two private equity investors—the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP) and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP/BackRock), a subsidiary of BlackRock, the world’s […]

From the column: "The line we’re being fed is that private ownership will speed up Allete’s transition away from coal. ... But BlackRock’s interest undoubtedly isn’t in 'going green.' It’s in going profitable."

Ratepayer groups and corporate watchdogs were likewise unmoved by the agreement, calling its ratepayer protections insufficient.

Minnesota utility regulators unanimously approved the controversial sale of Duluth-based Minnesota Power to a pair of private investment firms, one of which is owned by BlackRock, the world’s largest asset holder.

BlackRock-owned Global Infrastructure Partners 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.

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 electricity to regular customers — and the servers that power AI.

Sale of the Duluth-based public utilities provider could mean higher rates for customers.

Minnesota regulators are considering testimony they heard Thursday on a proposed acquisition which could set a new tone in the world of public utilities.A decision is expected soon on whether

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