Piedmont Natural Gas Files to Reduce Customer Rates in North Carolina and South Carolina

Charlotte-based Piedmont Natural Gas Company (PNY: Piedmont Natural Gas Company, Inc. (North Carolina)News, chart, profile, more today filed for a reduction in its customer billing rates for customers in North Carolina and South Carolina. The filings with the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) and South Carolina's Public Service Commission (PSC) seek to lower the wholesale cost of gas benchmark contained within the customer billing rates in each state and follow recent declines in the wholesale cost of natural gas. Earlier this month, the Company also filed a request with the Tennessee Regulatory Authority to reduce customer billing rates in Tennessee. The proposed reductions, if approved by the respective state regulatory bodies, would each go into effect on Jan. 1, 2009.
The 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 7 percent in North Carolina, between 7 and 8 percent in South Carolina, and by 15 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.