Piedmont Natural Gas Files for Upward Adjustment in Natural Gas Sales Rates in North Carolina

Proposed adjustment would increase average residential monthly natural gas bills by slightly more than $1 per month between June and October

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Piedmont Natural Gas

May 18, 2015, 04:43 ET

CHARLOTTE, N.C., May 18, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Piedmont Natural Gas (NYSE: PNY) has filed for an upward adjustment in its natural gas sales rates for customers in North Carolina. Piedmont's request, filed before the North Carolina Utilities Commission, more closely reflects the Company's current wholesale cost of natural gas and, if approved by the commission, would go into effect on June 1, 2015. The Company's wholesale costs of natural gas, which can fluctuate up or down, are embedded in its retail sales rates and are passed through to customers on a dollar for dollar basis.

For the typical Piedmont Natural Gas residential customer in North Carolina, the impact of the upward adjustment will be slight: over the remaining summer period of June through October, residential customers in North Carolina can expect to see a total increase of approximately $5 - $6, or just over $1 per month.

While the Company's proposed adjustment will result in a slight increase in customer's monthly natural gas bills, its wholesale cost of natural gas and overall retail sales rates remain at historically low levels. The low wholesale cost of natural gas is being driven by the availability of plentiful supplies of natural gas as a result of significant increases in natural gas production from shale gas deposits.

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