CHARLOTTE, N.C., June 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Piedmont
Natural Gas Foundation today announced that it has awarded a
$75,000 grant to fund a unique
partnership with Furman,
Duke and Vanderbilt universities that will support
student-led development of environmental stewardship and energy
sustainability initiatives.
Six student fellows – two from each school – joined Piedmont
Natural Gas Foundation officials, Piedmont Natural Gas (NYSE: PNY)
executives and university representatives to launch the Piedmont
Natural Gas Foundation's Partners Program in Furman University's David E. Shi Center for
Sustainability. Dr. Shi spearheaded several sustainability
initiatives as Furman's president
from 1994 to 2010 and currently serves as a member of the Piedmont
Natural Gas board of directors.
"Sustainability is a core value that Piedmont Natural Gas
strives to incorporate into every facet of our daily business and
promote through the work of the foundation," said George Baldwin, managing director of government
relations and sustainability for Piedmont Natural Gas and vice
president of the foundation. "We believe this program will
provide enriching educational experiences for our student fellows
while also developing energy efficiency and environmental
stewardship programs that can help build truly sustainable
communities."
The student fellows and their faculty advisors gathered at
Furman Monday to discuss the
program and share information about their individual projects.
Beginning with a 400-hour summer fellowship, the students will
continue work on their projects throughout the academic year with
the goal of implementing a sustainability initiative in
collaboration with a nonprofit agency or government partner in the
schools' communities of Greenville,
S.C., Durham, N.C., and
Nashville, Tenn. One
objective in designing the projects was to make them easy to
replicate in other communities.
Student fellows and their fellowship projects announced today
include:
- Duke University: Charlie Molthrop of Longwood, Fla. (Class of 2014) and
Marc Loefke of Auburn, Ala. (Class of 2013). Charlie and Marc
will work on a pilot residential energy efficiency program,
installing energy efficiency upgrades in 15 Durham-area homes and
monitoring energy use to determine changes in carbon emissions. The
data will be used to generate carbon offsets to help Duke meet its climate neutrality commitment.
- Furman University: Wes Floyd of Charleston, S.C. (Class of 2014) and
Patrick Starr of Atlanta (Class of 2013). Wes will work with
the City of Greenville to research
and develop an implementation strategy for the city's
Sustainability Action Plan. Patrick will conduct research for the
Greenville-based U.S. Endowment
for Forestry and Communities on initiatives related to watershed
protection and expanding protection of working forests.
- Vanderbilt University: Alexandra Scavone of Princeton, N.J. (Class of 2014) and
Kelsey Kaline of Beverly Hills, Mich. (Class of 2014).
Alexandra will work with the Tennessee Department of Environment
and Conservation to create a Governor's Sustainability Statement,
prepare TDEC's annual report, and research funding for sustainable
initiatives. Kelsey will work in TDEC's Sustainable Communities
Division, doing research, writing grants, and helping to create a
state sustainability statement.
About the Piedmont Natural Gas Foundation
The Piedmont Natural Gas Foundation was established in 2004 with
initial funding of $7 million from
Piedmont Natural Gas. The Foundation assists qualified charitable
agencies and organizations within Piedmont Natural Gas' three-state
service area through the awarding of grants. The Foundation's
mission of, "Enriching Our Communities," mirrors Piedmont Natural
Gas' strong philanthropic commitment to the communities it serves
and is further reflected in the Foundation's grant making strategy.
Grants awarded by the Foundation focus on the areas of
Environmental Stewardship and Energy Sustainability, and Community
Enrichment Initiatives centered on K-12 STEM Education, Workforce
Development and Health and Human Services. Since its inception, the
Foundation has awarded more than $6.2
million in grants to qualifying organizations in
North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
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 53,000 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
http://www.piedmontng.com.
SOURCE Piedmont Natural Gas Foundation