Piedmont Natural Gas Files for Reduction in Retail Natural Gas Rates in North Carolina

Company's semi-annual review of margin decoupling mechanism results in proposed reduction, reflects impacts of weather, efficiency gains, and conservation efforts on customer consumption and margin collection

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Piedmont Natural Gas

Oct 17, 2014, 02:25 ET

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Piedmont Natural Gas (NYSE: PNY) today filed for an overall reduction in its retail natural gas rates in North Carolina as the result of the Company's semi-annual review of its margin decoupling mechanism. Today's filing, if approved by the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC), would lower the Company's retail natural gas billing rates by a net amount of approximately $0.07 per therm or by approximately 7 percent for residential customers in North Carolina and would go into effect on November 1, 2014. The overall reduction in rates will amount to approximately $32 million over the next 12 months.

The semi-annual margin decoupling adjustment is one of several periodic adjustments to its retail natural gas rates that the Company submits to the NCUC for approval. Other typical adjustments include changes to the Company's wholesale cost of natural gas benchmark that is embedded in its retail natural gas sales rates, and Piedmont's integrity management rider, which recovers the Company's reasonable and ongoing costs associated with its pipeline safety programs.

Adjustments can increase or decrease natural gas rates and are subject to established regulatory review processes. The Company incorporates projected rate adjustments into its annual winter weather forecast issued prior to the start of each season's winter heating period of November through March.

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 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 regulated 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