Piedmont Natural Gas Files for Reduction in Natural Gas Rates in North Carolina and South Carolina

Proposed reductions would lower current residential rates by approximately 7.5 percent to 9.5 percent, saving average residential customer $8 to $10 on February natural gas bill

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Piedmont Natural Gas

Jan 17, 2013, 11:16 ET

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Jan. 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Piedmont Natural Gas (NYSE: PNY) has filed to reduce its natural gas rates in North Carolina and South Carolina. The new rates, if approved by the respective state commissions, would go into effect on February 1, 2013 and would reduce current residential natural gas rates by a range of approximately 7.5 percent to 9.5 percent. The proposed rate reduction would also save the average Piedmont Natural Gas residential customer approximately $8 to $10 on their upcoming February natural gas bill.

Piedmont's request to lower its rates comes in response to continuing moderation in wholesale natural gas costs – the costs that Piedmont pays for the natural gas it delivers to its customers. Since 2008, the wholesale cost of natural gas has been driven dramatically lower as a result of increased natural gas production from domestic shale gas supply resources. For Piedmont's typical residential customer in North Carolina and South Carolina, the reduction in natural gas rates since 2008 has been between 30 percent and 40 percent. As a result, a normal February natural gas bill for a Piedmont Natural Gas residential customer in 2013 would be approximately $45 - $75 less than the same residential bill in 2008.

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, industrial and power generation utility customers in portions of North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, including 51,600 customers served by municipalities who are wholesale customers. Our subsidiaries are invested in joint venture, energy-related businesses, including unregulated retail natural gas marketing, and regulated interstate natural gas transportation and storage and intrastate natural gas transportation businesses. More information about Piedmont Natural Gas is available on the Internet at http://www.piedmontng.com.

SOURCE Piedmont Natural Gas