Minnesota PUC issues order approving ALLETE/Minnesota Power Acquisition 

Those following CUB’s work will know we have written extensively about the take-private acquisition of ALLETE, Inc. (the company that owns local utility Minnesota Power) by two large, private investors: the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and BlackRock’s Global Infrastructures. The acquisition required the approval of several regulators, including the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC). All of those approvals have now been granted, meaning the acquisition will move forward. This article provides a brief summary of how we got to this point, and what comes next. 

Private Purchase of Minnesota Power

What has happened so far? 

CUB was a party to a lengthy regulatory process, overseen by a judge, to evaluate the proposed acquisition and make recommendations to the PUC. CUB (among several other parties) introduced evidence and arguments suggesting that the risks of approving the acquisition outweighed its benefits and recommended it be denied.  

Meanwhile, other parties suggested the opposite—that the benefits of the acquisition outweighed its risks and that it should be approved. In July 2025, the judge overseeing the case issued a report summarizing her evaluation of that evidence and parties’ arguments, ultimately recommending that the PUC deny the acquisition because approving it would not be in the public interest. 

Just a few days before the judge issued her report, the Minnesota Department of Commerce announced that it had dropped its opposition to the acquisition in exchange for ALLETE and the investors agreeing to certain conditions meant to assuage opponents’ concerns. 

On September 25 and October 3, 2025, the PUC held hearings on the acquisition, where the Commissioners heard oral arguments, asked questions of the parties involved in reviewing the acquisition, and considered the conditions agreed to as part of the Department’s settlement. At the conclusion of the October 3rd hearing, the Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the acquisition, subject to certain additional conditions. 

On December 10, 2025, the PUC issued a written order memorializing its decision. Five days later, ALLETE issued a press release announcing that the acquisition was complete.  

What does the PUC order accomplish? 

The PUC order summarizes the procedural process used to develop an evidentiary record before the PUC, the legal standard the PUC applied to assessing the acquisition, and the PUC’s process for evaluating various arguments and evidence developed through the regulatory process. It also describes how the PUC’s evaluation of the acquisition and evidentiary record differs from that of the judge who issued a recommendation on that record.  

The order also explains various requirements and limitations that conditioned the PUC’s approval. The PUC summarized some of these conditions in a press release announcing its decision. The conditions include (among others): 

• Global Infrastructure Partners and the Canada Pension Plan Investment board (the Partners) agreed to pay $50 million in bill credits to Minnesota Power customers by 2032;
• The Partners agreed to pay off some of the arrearages (overdue bills) currently owed by Minnesota Power customers;
• The PUC reduced Minnesota Power’s currently authorized return on equity (ROE) from 9.78% to 9.65% and capped its future ROE at 9.78% until December 31, 2030;
• The Partners agreed to fund a $10 million program to support weatherization and electrification for Minnesota Power’s low- and moderate- income Minnesota Power customers; and
• Minnesota Power agreed to not file another rate increase request until at least November 1, 2026. 

What happens next? 

After the PUC issues an order, parties affected by it have 20 days to file a petition requesting that the PUC reconsider its decision. If the PUC does not grant reconsideration within 60 days, the petition is considered denied. If a reconsideration petition is denied, the aggrieved party then has up to 30 days to appeal the PUC’s decision in court.  

CUB does not intend to file a petition for reconsideration, though other parties may choose to do so. 

Meanwhile, Minnesota Power has begun taking actions implementing some of the conditions included in the PUC’s order. For example, Minnesota Power’s staff has been engaging with stakeholders, including CUB, to develop the details on forgiving some customers’ arrearages. Minnesota Power has also submitted  compliance filings with the PUC showing how lowering its ROE will affect its rates. According to a draft bill insert produced by Minnesota Power, the ROE reduction will reduce the average residential bill by 31 cents per month (reducing residential rates by $0.00046 per kWh). 

CUB’s reaction  

After a long and complicated proceeding, we were disappointed by the PUC’s decision. For reasons described in our prior articles, we remain concerned that the risks of approving the acquisition outweigh its benefits. However, we recognize that parties supporting the acquisition also made strong arguments supporting its approval, and those arguments were ultimately more persuasive to the Commissioners entrusted with making this difficult decision. We respect the Commission’s decision and other parties’ whose positions in this case differed from ours. 

Though the conditions added in the PUC’s order did not convince us to drop our opposition to the acquisition, they help mitigate some of our concerns. We hope that, in time, the PUC’s decision will prove to be a good one and that the conditions they added to their approval will prove successful. In the meantime, CUB will retain a healthy skepticism about how Minnesota Power will operate under new ownership, and we will do our best to help hold Minnesota Power and the Partners accountable for honoring the commitments made in this proceeding and keeping rates just and reasonable for Minnesota Power customers. 

Keep an eye on our website—and sign up for our newsletter—for additional updates on CUB’s work to advocate for the interests of Minnesota’s residential ratepayers.