By Ross Kerber
(Reuters) – U.S. energy regulators on Thursday gave BlackRock renewed permission to own major stakes in public utility companies, a win for the world’s top asset manager over concerns that it wields too much influence.
The decision by the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission included a concurring opinion by Mark Christie, its Republican Chairman. He wrote that while he holds concerns about BlackRock’s market power, public utilities need access to capital.
“It is a fact of economic life that public utilities regulated by the Commission must seek investment capital from wherever it is available, and much of it is now either owned or managed by huge asset managers,” he wrote.
Technically the decision by the body known as FERC extends for three more years BlackRock’s permission to own up to 20% of the voting securities of any one U.S.-traded utility, above the baseline 10% threshold. No BlackRock fund can own more than 10% of the voting securities.
BlackRock has some $11.5 trillion under management. In a statement sent by a representative, BlackRock thanked FERC for the decision.
“At a time when energy affordability and reliability are especially important, we look forward to continuing to provide billions of dollars in capital for the American energy sector on behalf of our clients,” BlackRock said.
(Reporting by Ross Kerber; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
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