Opinion  /  Editorial  Submitted  by:  Douglas  I.  Oliver,  Philadelphian    For  almost  a  year  now,  we  have  heard  strong  opinions  regarding  the  Mayor’s  plan  to  sell  PGW.  The  Mayor  and  his  team,  City  Council,  the  PUC,  leaders  of  businesses  large  and  small,  consumer  groups,  unions  and  editorial  boards  have  all  opined  on  this  momentous  decision.  

I  work  at  PGW  and,  in  my  personal  opinion,  I  believe  the  company  should  be  sold  to  UIL.  I  came  to  that  conclusion  slowly,  but  from  my  perspective,  there  are  three  compelling  reasons  why  selling  is  the  right  move  for  Philadelphia.  

1. A  sale  will  inject  roughly  $500  million  in  the  City’s  massively  underfunded  pension  fund.  That  won’t  solve  our  pension  problem  by  any  means,  but  it  gives  a  little  breathing  room  and  it’s  a  lot  better  than  the  alternative.  For  those  who  don’t  like  the  idea  of  selling  PGW  to  generate  this  one-­‐time  infusion  of  cash,  I  ask  –  what  is  the  alternative  plan  to  address  the  pension  fund  issue  that  brings  more  than  $500m?  To  date,  no  other  ideas  are  on  the  table  that  I  am  aware  of.    Consider  that,  right  now,  more  than  two  out  of  every  five  dollars  the  City  spends  goes  to  cover  pension  and  healthcare  costs  and  that  number  is  only  expected  to  grow.  As  it  grows,  there  remains  less  and  less  money  available  for  critical  City  services  like  recreation  centers,  libraries  and  other  services  that  the  City  needs  to  thrive.  To  ignore  the  crisis  just  brings  us  closer  to  a  disaster  scenario  that  none  of  us  wish  to  fully  contemplate.      

2. A  privately  owned  PGW  can  take  more  advantage  of  current  and  future  market  opportunities.  A  private  company  has  access  to  capital  that  PGW  just  doesn’t  have.  Getting  money  from  shareholders  rather  than  from  ratepayers  means  that  the  investment  risks  are  not  born  by  the  people  who  can  least  afford  it.  Because  of  this,  a  private  company  has  a  greater  ability  to  play  an  integral  role  in  creating  the  energy  hub  that  can  bring  manufacturing  jobs  and  other  high  paying,  skilled  and  unskilled  jobs  back  to  the  City,  putting  Philadelphians  back  to  work,  strengthening  our  tax  base  and  freeing  up  precious  dollars  to  address  other  pressing  needs  like  improving  our  schools.  

3. A  privately  owned  company  has  the  ability  to  upgrade  our  underground  infrastructure  in  half  the  time  and  at  a  lower  cost.  The  more  cast  iron  pipe  that  can  be  removed  from  the  ground,  the  safer  and  more  reliable  our  system  becomes.  

City  Council  has  voiced  its  concerns  about  what  happens  to  PGW  employees.    And  as  a  PGW  employee,  I  appreciate  that  relentless  concern  for  what  happens  to  us.  Council  is  also  concerned  with  what  happens  to  low  income  programs  and  I  agree  that  those  are  the  right  questions  to  be  asking  as  well.    Council  has  said  it  won’t  be  rushed  into  a  bad  situation  which  also  makes  perfect  sense.  

But  from  everything  I  can  tell,  UIL  is  either  offering  these  protections  or  has  publicly  committed  to  making  whatever  changes  are  necessary  to  give  Council  comfort  that  their  concerns  have  been  addressed.  If  this  was  not  clear,  it  should  have  been  and  we  can  thank  Council  for  their  diligence.  I  am  also  encouraged  that  UIL  has  expressed  its  willingness  to  engage  with  PGW’s  hard-­‐working  Local  686  to  ensure  that  their  concerns  are  addressed.    

We’re  almost  there.  I  am  hopeful  that  the  Administration,  City  Council,  the  business  community,  unions,  UIL  and  other  interested  parties  will  continue  discussions  about  the  proposed  sale.  We  have  a  golden  opportunity  before  us,  but  we  need  to  work  together  to  make  it  happen.  

Finally,  I  encourage  all  candidates  and  would-­‐be  candidates  to  chime  in  on  this  sale  discussion.  This  much  is  clear  -­‐  whoever  the  next  Mayor  is  will  have  to  deal  with  pension  challenges  and  I  think  it’s  reasonable  that  candidates  make  their  opinion  on  the  PGW  sale  known  so  that  it  can  be  factored  into  the  current  decision  making  process.