New Mexico Poll Shows Overwhelming Opposition to Blackstone Takeover of PNM and Strong Support for State Investment Alternatives

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 23, 2026

New Mexico Poll Shows Overwhelming Opposition to Blackstone Takeover of PNM and  Strong Support for State Investment Alternatives

65% of PNM customers would opt for state investment over Blackstone acquisition.

A new statewide poll released Thursday by Public Power New Mexico found that 67% of voters oppose the proposed Blackstone takeover of PNM, while 65% of PNM customers polled prefer the state to become a shareholder in the utility as opposed to Blackstone’s proposed acquisition.

Findings from Embold Research’s study of New Mexicans’ attitudes toward issues including electricity costs, potential private equity ownership of PNM, and the development of large-scale data centers demonstrated strong support for a new fund using oil and gas surplus revenues to support strategic investments in New Mexico’s utilities, renewable energy, needed grid improvements, and rural economic development.

Key findings include:

• 65% of PNM customers prefer state investment in PNM to Blackstone’s acquisition of PNM (6%).

• 67% of New Mexico voters oppose the proposed Blackstone takeover of PNM.

• 73% of voters are opposed to large scale data centers in the state due to water consumption, potential electricity rate increases, and strain on the grid.

• 61% of New Mexicans support a permanent fund that would use oil and gas revenues to make investments in utilities, renewable energy, the grid, and rural economies.

• 62% of PNM customers surveyed would support changing state law or even the state constitution in order to allow majority state ownership of PNM.

The results were presented during a webinar featuring state legislators, local officials, financial experts, and community advocates discussing alternatives to private equity ownership.

State Investment Council member Nick Telles expressed interest in exploring a dedicated infrastructure investment fund that could support investments in New Mexico's utilities and community microgrids.

"There are options. There are definitely options," Telles said. Describing a potential infrastructure fund as “a potential solution to some of these issues that we all have a great deal of concern on,” he added, "That's what I'm going to explore with the SIC. And I think that could be a very good idea."

State Senator Harold Pope called for continued public pressure to stop the Blackstone acquisition of PNM and outlined potential legislative action to strengthen utility accountability and restrict private equity ownership. He also announced plans to introduce legislation banning hyperscale data centers. "We already see from this polling that the people are with us," Pope said. "We just really need to follow the lead of the people." Aditi Sen, Managing Director of Americans for Financial Reform, called for stronger regulatory oversight to prevent private equity firms from extracting profits from essential services. “We need the regulators to be strengthened enough to actually stand up to these business interests,” she said. 

Former Public Regulation Commissioner, Steve Fischmann, said giving the public a greater financial stake in PNM could strengthen accountability, advance public policy goals, and potentially reduce electricity costs. “I think it’s a great thing to start making the public stronger stakeholders,” he said. “And I think, quite frankly, we can shave a lot of money off of utility bills as well.”

Santa Fe County Commissioner Camilla Bustamante discussed the County's exploration of a public utility and community microgrids, highlighting the need for local control and more reliable infrastructure. "The only shareholders in our system should be the people using the system," Commissioner Bustamante said.

Zephyr Jaramillo (they/them), Campaign Organizer with Youth United for Climate Crisis Action (YUCCA), connected the findings to a broader vision for economic development: "We believe at YUCCA that the wealth generated through extraction should be used to build a future that no longer depends on extraction."

Polling data came from 1,123 registered New Mexico voters surveyed over the course of 5 days (September 11–15, 2026). The data was reported with a modeled margin of error of 3.2%.

Full poll results:

Webinar recording:

Media Contact:

info@publicpowernm.org Jay Levine

575.770.0587

Public Power New Mexico is a coalition of organizations and individuals advocating for sustainable, affordable, democratic, and community controlled energy in New Mexico.