Nutter Hopes for PGW Sale by Year’s End

The old deadline is dead. Now there’s a new one.

Mayor Nutter, who failed in his efforts to get a City Council vote on selling PGW to a Connecticut company by a mid-July deadline, now says he hopes for public hearings on the issue this fall — and a final vote on the matter by year’s end.

KYW Newsradio reports on the mayor’s comments:

“I would certainly hope that we could see a few things happen over the course of the next few weeks: first and foremost, the release of the Concentric report,” he said. “Obviously after that we’d like to see the introduction of the necessary legislation, and obviously a schedule of proposed hearings, so that we can have a full public engagement, discussion, debate about what I think is the best offer put forward.”

And Nutter said he hopes that Council casts a final vote on the proposed sale by year’s end. “We have a few months. But absolutely I would also like to see final action, positive action on a (PGW) bill before the end of the year. That would be my hope,” he said.

Under the terms of the sale, the city would sell PGW to UIL Holdings, a Connecticut company, for just under $2 billion. Profit from the sale — an expected $500 million — would shore up the pension fund for city workers. City Council is awaiting a report from its own consultant on the issue; the state’s Public Utility Commission must also grant its approval of the sale.

Previously: Report: UIL Has Spent $20 Million in Effort to Buy PGW
Previously: UIL Explains Why It Wants to Purchase Philadelphia Gas Works — and What it Intends to Do With It
Previously: Council Won’t Finish PGW Sale Review Before Recess