Indiana Treasurer of State Daniel Elliott released a statement on Tuesday, March 3 in response to the announcement of the AES purchase by BlackRock, EQT, CalPERS, and the Qatari Investment Authority.
“After learning the news yesterday of the reported deal between AES Corporation and the consortium consisting of BlackRock, EQT, the Qatari Investment Authority, and CalPERS. I have spent the last 24 hours gathering information and am increasingly worried by this potential deal and the impact it will have on Hoosiers in central Indiana.
“As Treasurer, I took actions to protect Hoosier public servants from BlackRock’s ESG decisions. I’m also extremely concerned by the presence of the CalPERS, the California pension fund and the influence they’ll have over the lives of Hoosiers. Recently, CalPERS lost over 300 million dollars of retiree money and their mismanagement is now the subject of a Congressional probe. The Qatari Investment Authority has known ties to Hamas. This fundamentally misaligns with Hoosier values. Hoosiers deserve answers.
“Hoosiers need to be guaranteed that they will not face harm at a time when affordability is one of the most important issues facing all of us. I hope that the federal regulators that are in charge of reviewing and approving this merger will complete a full review and give Hoosiers complete transparency on the terms of this deal. Otherwise and until then, I cannot support this deal.”