Website tracks PGW sale effort

The City and Philadelphia Gas Works set up a website Friday that officials said will track the effort to sell the city-owned utility.

The site, www.exploringasale.com, has sections on how a sale would affect PGW customers, employees and the business community, background material and an FAQ.

Over objections of unionized gas workers and the city's public advocate, the commission that oversees PGW voted in January to hire a team of lawyers, financial advisers, and communications consultants to solicit bids to privatize PGW.

A financial adviser last year estimated that a sale could net the city as much as $496 million after PGW's liabilities of about $1.3 billion were paid off.