City Council rejects proposed $1.86B sale of Philadelphia gas utility to Connecticut firm

Philadelphia City Council members are effectively killing the proposed sale of the city's gas utility to a Connecticut firm.

The deal required City Council approval. But council President Darrell Clarke says there are "no appetites" for the proposed $1.86 billion sale of Philadelphia Gas Works to UIL Holdings Corp.

Mayor Michael Nutter's administration had no immediate comment.

Nutter said in March that the sale would inject $424 million into the city's distressed pension fund, freezing rates for three years and maintaining low-income and senior discount programs while safeguarding pensions.

Union leaders and several environmental organizations opposed the idea.

PGW traces its history to 1836. It is the nation's largest city-owned gas utility with more than half a million customers and more than 1,600 employees.