We Demand FERC Break up BlackRock
BlackRock's Attempt to Acquire Utility AES Must Be Stopped
By Tyson Slocum
Today before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in Docket EC26-99, Public Citizen joins with the Private Equity Stakeholder Project and Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana to stop BlackRock’s effort to buy utility AES, where we argue FERC must either reject the merger or require BlackRock to be broken apart.
On May 21, affiliates of BlackRock, Swedish private equity firm EQT, and the sovereign wealth fund of the Qatari monarchy filed an application with the Commission seeking permission to acquire AES Corporation for $33.4 billion (including debt). AES is the parent company of the franchised utilities Indianapolis Power & Light Company and Dayton Power & Light Company with nearly 1.1 million captive customers.
Under the proposed transaction, BlackRock affiliates would control 56.625% of AES (which includes BlackRock’s management of CalPERS’ stake); affiliates of EQT would control 33.375%; and 10% would be controlled by the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar, a monarchy where women and some other residents have limited rights.
Section 201 of the Federal Power Act declares “that the business of transmitting and selling electric energy for ultimate distribution to the public is affected with a public interest”. The Federal Power Act compels any entity seeking to acquire or control a public utility to first obtain permission from the Commission: “[n]o public utility shall, without first having secured an order of the Commission authorizing it to do so” allow a “change in control” until “it finds that the proposed transaction will be consistent with the public interest”.
The transaction’s involvement of BlackRock violates BlackRock’s blanket authorization and the public interest, and therefore the Commission must set the matter for evidentiary hearing to determine the required mitigation: the Commission must compel BlackRock to legally and fully separate its non-controlling asset management business from its active management of utilities. Otherwise, it must reject the application for failure to adhere to the public interest. Congress handed the Commission sweeping powers under the Federal Power Act to prioritize the protection of the public interest and captive consumers, so the proposed mitigation is within the Commission’s statutory authorities.
Read the full filing here: PESP PC CAC FERC BlackRock EQT AES protest 072026