After deadline, no word on PGW deal

YESTERDAY was the first day that the Connecticut company Mayor Nutter selected to buy Philadelphia Gas Works was allowed to walk away from the proposed $1.86 billion deal.

But neither UIL Holdings Corp., a gas and electricity utility based in New Haven, nor the Mayor's Office commented on the status of the transaction.

All eyes are on City Council, which, along with a state regulatory panel, must approve the deal.

Nutter urged Council to begin working on the issue before it broke last month for summer recess, but none of the 16 members introduced a bill on his behalf.

"This is really the administration's show," Jane Roh, a spokeswoman for Council President Darrell Clarke, said of yesterday's deadline.

Council has commissioned Concentric Energy Advisors, a Boston-area consulting firm, to produce reports on UIL's offer and on alternatives to selling the utility.

Roh said that Concentric was "asked to perform a thorough and complete review and we did not put an artificial deadline on that." Clarke, she said, "hopes" to have the final reports by the end of summer.

UIL has invested at least $7 million in its effort to acquire PGW, and few expected the company to walk away from the deal until there is a clearer indication from Council.

Company spokesman Michael West said meetings about the decision were scheduled for yesterday and today.

Blog: ph.ly/PhillyClout