Parent company of PNM announces leadership change in wake of acquisition report
Mike Easterling, The Santa Fe New Mexican
4 min read
The company that owns Public Service Company of New Mexico, the state's largest electric utility, is undergoing a leadership shakeup and getting a rate hike amid news reports a private equity firm plans to acquire it.
TXNM Energy board CEO Pat Collawn is transitioning to the role of executive chair, and longtime executive Don Tarry will take over as president and CEO on July 1, the company announced this week in a news release, calling it part of a “long-standing succession plan.”
In a typical corporate hierarchy, the executive chair is head of an organization's board of directors and works to ensure the company meets stakeholder expectations, while the CEO oversees day-to-day activities alongside senior leadership.
Earlier this week, Bloomberg News, citing unnamed sources, reported officials from Blackstone Inc. are in talks to acquire TXNM. Blackstone bills itself as the world’s largest alternative asset manager.
The leadership shakeup also comes as the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission approved a phased-in rate hike after the utility reached a deal with several other parties in a nearly year-old rate case.
TXNM Energy, formerly known as PNM Resources, owns Public Service Company of New Mexico and provides electricity to more than 800,000 homes and businesses in New Mexico and Texas.
Don Tarry
Don Tarry
Albuquerque-based TXNM has been exploring a potential sale of PNM after its long-sought merger with Connecticut-based renewable energy giant Avangrid fell apart more than a year ago, Bloomberg reported in mid-March.
PNM and Avangrid, a subsidiary of the Spanish conglomerate Iberdrola, had lobbied intensely for more than three years to bring a $4.3 billion merger to fruition. Santa Fe nonprofit New Energy Economy opposed the deal in a long fight that landed before the New Mexico Supreme Court. Avangrid announced in early January 2024 the deal was off.
Mariel Nanasi, executive director of New Energy Economy, celebrated the news at the time, saying her group “slayed a corporate giant bent on exploiting New Mexico.” She did not respond Thursday to a request for comment on the potential sale of PNM to the private equity firm.
Blackstone’s holdings include more than 12,500 real estate assets and more than 250 portfolio companies, according to its website.
A little over a month after the PNM deal with Avangrid ended, Collawn told The New Mexican she and other company executives were “still in a deep breaths phase” and believed “bigger is better” and that such a deal has “always been kind of an ongoing effort.”
Leadership change
Tarry, who currently serves as the president and CEO of PNM, has been part of the company now known as TXNM Energy since 1996, serving as senior vice president, chief financial officer, vice president of customer service, chief information officer, controller and treasurer.
“Don’s breadth of knowledge combined with his commitment to our customers and consumers is unmatched,” Collawn said in a statement.
Collawn has been with TXNM since June 2007, joining the firm as utilities president. She took over as president and chief operating officer a little more than a year later, then was named president and CEO in March 2010.
She has overseen PNM’s transition to greater renewable energy generation over the last several years, with the utility reaching 72% carbon-free generation capacity in 2024.
“Pat’s remarkable leadership has advanced our utilities, our teams, our communities and the industry as we navigated a changing energy environment,” Norm Becker, the lead independent director at TXNM Energy, said in a statement. "We are confident in Don’s ability to continue moving our utilities forward as we pursue cost-effective solutions to serve our customers’ growing needs,” he added.
PNM spokesman Jeff Buell said Thursday the company had no comment on the leadership change at TXNM Energy.
PNM rate increases
Tarry on Thursday heralded a decision by the Public Regulation Commission to approve a rate increase for PNM's customers.
The rate increase will be implemented in two phases, PNM said in a news release. The first will take place in July, while the other will occur in April 2026.
PNM officials said the average monthly residential bill will increase in both phases by $6.23.
“This outcome ensures we can continue investing in the infrastructure and technologies necessary to meet our customers’ needs and support New Mexico’s clean energy future,” Tarry said in a statement.
Company officials said the rate increases will support investments in grid reliability, cybersecurity and physical security enhancements, wildfire mitigation and vegetation management, new infrastructure to support renewable energy integration, and advanced monitoring technologies to improve system performance.
PNM reached a unanimous agreement with multiple parties in setting the rate adjustments, according to the news release. Those parties include the Utility Division Staff of the PRC, the New Mexico Department of Justice, the city of Albuquerque, Bernalillo County and various nonprofit organizations devoted to promoting renewable energy, including New Energy Economy.
Also included in the agreement is a $1.5 million contribution to the PNM Good Neighbor Fund providing additional bill assistance to qualified customers.
