Suitor for PGW not expected to nix deal right after midnight deadline

A midnight deadline is expected to come and go tonight without news on the proposed sale of Philadelphia Gas Works. 

A spokesman for the buyer, UIL Holdings says the company is still considering whether to abandon purchasing Philadelphia Gas Works, the nation’s largest city-owned gas utility.

The nearly $2 billion transaction is in limbo because no member of city council is willing even to introduce the bill necessary to sell the gas utility to UIL.

Council has commissioned an independent consultant to analyze the deal but no bill is expected to be introduced until council returns from it’s recess in September.

Had UIL walked away earlier it would have had to pay millions to cover city expenses such as attorney fees. The Connecticut utility has until the end of the year to decide whether it wants to continue on with the transaction.

Mayor Michael Nutter plans to use the proceeds to refill the city’s underfunded pension accounts.

 

Members of city council, including some on the board of PGW have questioned whether a private utility would be as responsive as when it’s run by local government.