Yet another corporate titan is betting big on America’s surging electricity demand.
On Monday, Blackstone’s infrastructure division announced an $11.5 billion deal to buy TXNM Energy, the Albuquerque-based utility owner that serves 800,000 customers across New Mexico and Texas.
It’s the largest investment into the electricity sector yet by the world’s biggest alternative asset manager — a distinction referring to its portfolio of private equity and hedge fund holdings, instead of traditional stocks and bonds. The transaction suggests that the financial behemoth is looking to widen its stake in the nation’s boom in data centers to power artificial intelligence software and cryptocurrency mining.
As part of the deal, Blackstone agreed to pump $400 million into TXNM and its subsidiaries to build out more power plants. Albuquerque, New Mexico’s biggest city, has emerged in recent years as a data center hub. Facebook-owner Meta already commands 11 of the metropolitan area’s 17 data centers, and won approval from local regulators in January to begin an $800 million expansion.
That same month, Blackstone agreed to buy the Potomac Energy Center, a 774-megawatt fossil gas power plant in Loudoun County, Virginia, for an undisclosed sum.
“This investment underscores Blackstone’s commitment to investing in the electric infrastructure required to power AI innovation,” Bilal Khan, senior managing director at Blackstone Energy Transition Partners, said in a statement at the time.
On Monday, Sean Klimczak, the global head of Blackstone Infrastructure, described the company’s foray into New Mexico as a “long-term” investment
Blackstone is hardly the only investor striking mega deals in the power sector.
Last week, utility giant NRG Energy agreed to buy LS Power’s fleet of fossil gas-fired plants as well as CPower, its virtual power plant platform, for a combined total of $12 billion.
And in January, Constellation Energy — the nation’s largest operator of nuclear plants — announced a $29 billion purchase of Calpine, which controls one of the country’s biggest fossil gas generation fleets.
Neither Blackstone nor TXNM immediately responded to questions about whether the planned expansion would focus on fossil gas or low-carbon sources such as renewables or nuclear. But in November, TXNM proposed adding 430 MW of new solar and battery storage to its portfolio in New Mexico.
In Monday’s press release, TXNM CEO Pat Collawn said the company would continue to build out “a reliable, resilient grid to support economic prosperity and clean energy.”
