As the AI boom promises soaring electricity demand, private equity giant BlackRock is waging a scorched-earth campaign — with the help of suspiciously timed advocacy from labor allies and ostensible clean-energy groups — to acquire an electric supplier and get a slice of newfound energy profits.

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has its tentacles in all facets of American life. The behemoth is buying up grocery brands, dental practices, apartment buildings, and nursing homes. But the opaque industry of private equity has mostly stayed away from electric utilities, the regulated companies that supply power to homes and businesses, because they often don’t yield quick returns.

That’s changing. Last year, the BlackRock subsidiary Global Infrastructure Partners and a Canadian pension fund announced a $6.2 billion deal to buy Minnesota Power, an electric utility that serves more than 100,000 customers in northern Minnesota, including the city of Duluth. The proposal faced fierce opposition from consumer protection groups and environmental watchdogs, who worried the deal would lead to massive rate hikes and hamper efforts to shift the plant to renewables, given private equity’s extractive, short-term business model.