Piedmont Natural Gas Filing to Further Reduce Customer Rates in North Carolina and South Carolina
January 16 2009 - 2:35PM
PR Newswire (US)
Filing is second request in as many months and reflects continuing
declines in the wholesale cost of gas; Requests follow earlier
filing in Tennessee to reduce rates for Tennessee customers.
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Jan. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Charlotte-based
Piedmont Natural Gas Company (NYSE:PNY) will file today for a
reduction in its billing rates for customers in North Carolina and
South Carolina. The filings with the North Carolina Utilities
Commission (NCUC) and the Public Service Commission of South
Carolina (PSCSC) seek to lower the wholesale cost of gas benchmark
contained within the customer billing rates in each state and
follow continuing declines in the wholesale cost of natural gas.
Earlier this month, the Company also filed a request with the
Tennessee Regulatory Authority (TRA) to reduce customer billing
rates in Tennessee which, if approved by that body, would be
effective February 1, 2009. The proposed reductions in North
Carolina and South Carolina, if approved by the respective state
regulatory bodies, would also go into effect on February 1, 2009.
The cost of gas benchmark reflects the wholesale cost of natural
gas supplies purchased by the Company on behalf of its customers
and can fluctuate up or down. The wholesale cost of gas represents
the single largest portion of a residential or commercial
customer's monthly natural gas bill, typically making up between 65
percent and 70 percent of the total bill. As a regulated natural
gas distribution company, Piedmont Natural Gas is required to
"true-up" or pass through the wholesale cost of gas to its
customers on a dollar-for-dollar basis, without adding on any
additional profit margin. If approved by each of the respective
state regulatory agencies, Piedmont's proposed benchmark reductions
would have the effect of reducing residential billing rates by
approximately 9 percent in North Carolina, 9.6 percent in South
Carolina, and 3.6 percent in Tennessee. Forward Looking Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements. These
statements are based on management's current expectations and
information currently available and are believed to be reasonable
and are made in good faith. However, the forward-looking statements
are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those projected in the
statements. Factors that may make the actual results differ from
anticipated results include, but are not limited to, regulatory
issues, customer growth, economic and capital market conditions,
the cost and availability of natural gas, competition from other
energy providers, weather conditions and other uncertainties, all
of which are difficult to predict and some of which are beyond our
control. For these reasons, you should not rely on these
forward-looking statements when making investment decisions. The
words "expect," "believe," "project," "anticipate," "intend,"
"should," "could," "will," "assume," "can," "estimate," "forecast,"
"future," "indicate," "outlook," "plan," "predict," "seek,"
"target," "would," and variations of such words and similar
expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements are only as of the date they are made
and we do not undertake any obligation to update publicly any
forward-looking statement, either as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise except as required by applicable laws
and regulations. More information about the risks and uncertainties
relating to these forward-looking statements may be found in
Piedmont's latest Form 10-K and its other filings with the SEC,
which are available on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov/ .
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 62,000 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 on the Internet at
http://www.piedmontng.com/ . DATASOURCE: Piedmont Natural Gas
CONTACT: David Trusty of Piedmont Natural Gas, +1-704-731-4391
(office), +1-704-507-5393 (cell), Web site:
http://www.piedmontng.com/
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