PGW Sale: Not Dead Yet

Photo | Jeff Fusco

No, the City Council doesn’t show much sign of budging. And yes, UIL Holdings — the Connecticut company that has spent most of 2014 trying to buy Philadelphia Gas Works from the city, said last week it’ll walk away from the deal when its contract expires at the end of December.

But the PGW sale isn’t dead yet. Close, but not quite.

Philadelphia Business Journal reports that UIL officials are continuing to meet with and lobby city officials, hoping that the sale can be put on the City Council agenda for one of the year’s two remaining scheduled meetings — or that an additional meeting can be scheduled for just that purpose. The Journal talked to UIL spokesman Michael West:

West, in a phone conversation Friday, said UIL has been meeting with “key business and community leaders” about the deal. He even said, “There have been a number of stakeholders we’ve been meeting with where we found common ground … The question becomes: ‘Do we have the coalition that can move this forward if there’s still time?’ ”

West said the folks UIL is meeting with are “a larger list than people might think.” He confirmed that UIL is working alongside local labor leaders John Dougherty and Pat Gillespie, which the Inquirer reported Friday.

“If there is the political will and business acumen to get this done, only time will tell,” West said.

West said UIL will have representatives attending the council’s remaining sessions this year.