BlackRock’s bid for Minnesota Power worries consumer advocates

This story was originally published by Minnesota Reformer.

Private equity shops have earned outsized returns on investments in health care, telecommunications and housing — with mixed results for consumers.

Now, they may be running the same playbook on the once-sleepy utility business, with BlackRock’s proposed takeover of the parent company of Duluth-based Minnesota Power as a key test case. Public filings in the hotly contested matter show ratepayer advocates, labor unions, environmental groups and major customers of Minnesota Power on different sides of the issue.

At the heart of the matter is a simple question: Is it a good or bad thing for the world’s largest asset manager to have a controlling stake in a regional utility?

A private equity buyout of the electric utility serving la