The sale of PGW provides a tremendous opportunity for the City of Philadelphia to position itself as an international energy hub for the 21st century.
The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce continues to encourage Philadelphia City Council to allow the introduction of a sale ordinance, schedule public hearings on the transaction, and put this matter to a vote. While we disagree with Council’s action to oppose the sale to UIL, we welcome the opportunity to work together to ensure Philadelphia is positioned to play a leading role in the new energy economy.
Selling PGW will mean jobs for city residents, economic opportunity for companies seeking to locate here to take advantage of the increased energy potential, and ultimately, more tax revenues for our city. Other advantages of the sale include faster replacement of antiquated underground gas lines and stabilizing prices for customers who now pay the highest gas rates in Pennsylvania.
For a period of months, the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, along with other city business leaders, respected City Council’s process as it conducted a publicly-funded technical review of the city’s proposal to sell PGW to UIL. GPCC withheld comment during this time, believing Council had that right to conduct its own due diligence on a public transaction of this scale and magnitude. However, we are disappointed that after months of conducting a technical review, Council has decided to pivot in a more general direction without providing many perspectives to comment on the PGW sale ordinance in an open and transparent way.
At the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, we are working hard to create a climate and structure for Philadelphia to position itself as the next energy hub city in America, given our proximity to the Marcellus Shale, and the emergence of innovative energy companies repurposing our refineries along our waterfronts. That work will continue undeterred.
