I was happy to see the Timberjay’s excellent overview of the proposed sale of ALLETE (including Minnesota Power) to the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board and Global Infrastructure Partners—which itself is owned by the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock [“Stakeholders oppose sale of Minnesota Power parent company,” March 28, 2025]. As the article notes, this proposal has triggered a rare occurrence where a range of parties who are often on opposite ends of an issue – including consumer protection advocates, environmentalists, the iron mines and paper mills, Attorney General Kieth Ellison, and rural community advocates like CURE – have all united around a common position: this sale is a bad deal for Minnesota Power customers and Minnesotans in general.
 So far, this sale has gotten the go ahead by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (although not without one Commissioner expressing deep reservations) and the ALLETE shareholders, who stand to get a substantial premium payout if the deal goes through. The next and final stop is the Minnesota Public Utility Commission (MPUC) which must find that sale is “consistent with the public interest” before it approves it. You’ll notice that the only ones who don’t get a direct say in this decision are those of us who will be most directly impacted – Minnesota Power customers, municipalities, and all the communities in their service territory.
 That’s why it’s imperative that we use the opportunity we have now to let the PUC know what we think about this sell-off of a critical public service and northern Minnesota institution to far-off, wealthy private equity interests whose sole priority is generating big profits for their investors, not making sure that northern Minnesotans have access to the reliable, affordable, safe, clean electricity that we need. Send the MPUC your comments and questions about the deal before April 17 or show up at one of the public hearings next week in person or online (more info: https://www.mnpower.com/Company/PublicHearings). And check out https://curemn.org/take-action/ for more info about the deal and how to comment.
 Maggie Schuppert
CURE Director
of Strategic Initiatives
Ely