Piedmont Natural Gas Announces $100,000 Share The Warmth Contribution

Energy Assistance Program Helps Those in Need Pay Home Energy Bills

News provided by

Oct 04, 2010, 02:47 ET

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Piedmont Natural Gas (NYSE: PNY) today announced it will donate $100,000 to the Share the Warmth fund to assist members of its communities in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee who need help paying their home energy bills.

"We know that many of our neighbors have been hard hit by the challenges of today's economy," said Thomas E. Skains, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Piedmont Natural Gas. "We believe it's our responsibility not only to be active contributors in the communities where we live and work, but also to offer assistance to our neighbors who need it most."

Piedmont has donated more than $1.3 million to Share the Warmth partner agencies since its inception in 2003. In addition, contributions from Piedmont Natural Gas customers enrolled in the Share the Warmth Round Up program are projected to provide an additional $90,000 to their neighbors in need this year. All Share the Warmth Round Up contributions from customers stay in the communities in which they were received.

"During the past two years we have served an unprecedented number of families in need of help with their utility payments," said Carol Hardison, executive director of Crisis Assistance Ministry in Charlotte, North Carolina. "We greatly appreciate the generosity of Piedmont and its customers. Their Share the Warmth contributions will be essential to our ability to address the needs in our community again this winter as we help families move toward stability."

Earlier this year, the Share the Warmth Round Up program was named winner of the Southern Gas Association's 2010 Community Service Award. The voluntary program offers Piedmont customers a simple way to round up their monthly natural gas bill to the nearest dollar with the difference going to assist neighbors in their community who need help paying their home energy bills. Share the Warmth funds can be used to pay energy bills throughout the year regardless of the energy source used in the home, including natural gas, propane, oil and electricity.

Share the Warmth contributions are tax-deductible and 100 percent of every donation goes to assisting families and individuals in need. Piedmont's Share the Warmth partner agencies use donations to provide direct financial assistance to low-income families and individuals using all forms of energy throughout the year.

Piedmont customers can enroll in the Round Up program in three ways:

Complete the enrollment form on the back of their monthly bill and return it with their bill remittance.
Call (800) 752-7504.
Visit www.piedmontng.com and complete the online form found under Share the Warmth Round Up in the "Our Community" section.

For more about Share the Warmth and the Round Up program, visit www.piedmontng.com and click on "Our Community."

About Piedmont Natural Gas

Piedmont Natural Gas is an energy services company primarily engaged in the distribution of natural gas to more than one million residential, commercial and industrial utility customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, including 52,000 customers served by municipalities who are wholesale customers. Our subsidiaries are invested in joint venture, energy-related businesses, including unregulated retail natural gas marketing, interstate natural gas storage and intrastate natural gas transportation. More information about Piedmont Natural Gas is available at www.piedmontng.com.

SOURCE Piedmont Natural Gas