A proposed sale of Minnesota’s second-largest utility to a partnership with Canadian interests is drawing a lot of attention.

Minnesota Power serves more than 150,000 electricity customers in the northeastern part of the state, including those in the International Falls area.

If regulators say “yes,” its parent company ALLETE would be sold to BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

Stephanie Kiero worries electricity rates will go up for the wrong reasons.

“It seems to me like another case of ‘the rich get richer’ when things move in the private equity direction,” says Kiero.

“I think there’s different expectations about profit from private equity. I mean, it’s about ‘make the most profit that you can in the shortest amount of time.’ “

Analysts view this as a bellwether because these types of deals don’t surface all the time.

Minnesota Power has stated it does not anticipate customer rates to be impacted, and that the deal guarantees more resources in meeting the state’s clean-energy goals amid spiking demand.

However, skeptics say the deal undermines clean-energy efforts because of the buyer’s link to fossil fuels.

Hudson Kingston, with the environmental group CURE, also worries about transparency.

As a company with a public focus, ALLETE has almost immediate reporting requirements when issues arise.

Kingston warns that might change if this sale goes through.

“If they have accounting mistakes, if they have major shortfalls, that might not come out until an annual report to the PUC,” says Kingston.

“That’s very concerning. It really pushes a lot of their management into the shadows.”

Minnesota Power contends it will continue as an independently operated, locally managed and regulated utility.

Wisconsin regulators gave their approval to the sale earlier this year as it impacted an Allete-owned utility in that state.

The Minnesota PUC is expected to render its decision this fall.

(With files from Mike Moen/Minnesota News Connection)