Deal doomed from the start

One popular aspect of the TV show Survivor is seeing cast members "blindsided" by the treachery of others. Usually the victims should have seen the betrayal coming.

So it is with City Council's abrupt yet tardy announcement that it won't sign off on the proposed sale of the debt-ridden, pipes-crumbling Philadelphia Gas Works. Everyone should have seen this coming.

After taking six months to complete a study that a consultant originally estimated would take six weeks, Council on Monday did what it appears to have wanted to do from the beginning: scuttle a $1.86 billion deal to sell PGW to UIL Holdings Corp. of New Haven, Conn.

In announcing the decision, City Council President Darrell L. Clarke raised the same questions he raised about the proposed sale when the consultant's study began. If the study simply confirmed that the proposed sale raises questions, was it really worth $522,000?

Clarke didn't explain why Council refused to hold public hearings on the proposed sale so that Philadelphians could raise a few questions themselves. He did indicate that hearings would be held to discuss possible alternatives to the dead UIL deal.

Like a spurned suitor, UIL walks away having spent $20 million trying to make the deal. "This is clearly not going to be perceived as a positive signal to those interested in coming here to create jobs," said Rob Wonderling, head of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce.

UIL has a right to feel betrayed, but it's Philadelphians who lost out. Until they find another buyer, they're still on the hook for PGW's $1 billion debt, plus the expense of replacing its ancient pipes. Tack onto that the millions of lost dollars the UIL sale would have provided for city workers' pension fund.

The UIL proposal resulted from a lengthy process that included more than 30 interested parties. Only UIL offered to temporarily freeze rates, retain poverty discounts, and preserve pensions. Clarke criticized that process. Yet his tailored consultant's study, offered without benefit of even one public hearing, wasn't an improvement.