CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Piedmont Natural Gas
(NYSE: PNY) released its annual winter bills forecast today for
residential customers in its North
Carolina, South Carolina,
and Tennessee service areas. The Company is projecting
that monthly natural gas bills will on average be $10 to $12 lower per month for Piedmont's typical residential customer in the
Carolinas and as much as $28 lower
per month for its typical residential customer in Tennessee over the coming five month November
through March winter period.
Forecast Incorporates Normal Winter Weather, Other Rate
Factors
The Company's projections assume normal winter weather for the
upcoming November, 2015 through March, 2016 forecast period
compared to the prior year's actual winter weather. Last
year, winter weather in the Company's North Carolina and South Carolina service area was between 6% and
12% colder than normal. In Piedmont's Tennessee service area, winter weather last
year was approximately 12% to 15% colder than normal. Colder
weather is the primary factor driving higher customer consumption
levels
In addition to the impact of weather on monthly natural gas
bills, Piedmont also builds into
its forecast the potential impacts of billing rate changes.
These billing rate factors include potential changes to the
Company's commodity benchmark cost of gas, regulatory adjustments
under Piedmont's existing
regulated tariffs such as the Company's margin decoupling mechanism
and its Integrity Management Rider, and other smaller rate
adjustments.
Natural Gas Commodity Costs Expected To Be Lower
Over the upcoming winter period, Piedmont projects that the wholesale commodity
cost of natural gas as reflected in customers' monthly natural gas
bills will be lower compared to last year's winter period.
Piedmont passes on the wholesale
cost of natural gas to its customers on a dollar for dollar basis
so that customers pay what Piedmont pays for natural gas.
Wholesale costs of natural gas have continued to generally trend
downward in recent years as a result of the abundance of domestic
natural gas supplies stemming from increased onshore production of
natural gas from shale gas deposits.
Company Website a Resource for Energy Saving Tips for
Customers
For customers who want to learn more about energy savings tips,
Piedmont maintains a separate
section on its website devoted to educating customers about their
home's energy usage. Visiting www.piedmontng.com could help
customers better manage the natural gas they use this winter along
with their monthly energy bills. Many of the tips, such as turning
the thermostat down several degrees save energy and cost
nothing. Others like making sure windows and doors are
properly sealed only cost a few dollars. Still other steps,
like investing in a programmable thermostat or purchasing higher
efficiency natural gas equipment and appliances may cost a bit more
upfront but will end up saving the customer both energy and money
over the life of the equipment.
The Company's website also provides consumers with several
energy calculator tools designed to help customers see what energy
their home actually uses and how they can potentially reduce their
consumption and better manage their monthly bills.
Piedmont's "Share the Warmth
Round Up" Program Assists Others in the Community
Piedmont reminds its customers
that its "Share the Warmth Round Up" Program offers customers an
easy way to help others in their communities who face economic
hardship. Customers may enroll in the Share the Warmth Round Up
Program to round up their monthly natural gas bills to the nearest
dollar. The amount rounded up provides emergency energy assistance
funds to individuals and families within the communities
Piedmont serves, regardless of
what energy is used in the home or even what time of year the need
arises. Piedmont also
contributes funds to the energy assistance program and, since 2003,
has provided more than $1.9 million
to its Share the Warmth partner agencies.
For those customers who want to learn more about the Share the
Warmth Round Up Program or to enroll in the program, they are
encouraged to visit Piedmont's
website at www.piedmontng.com.
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
intrastate natural gas transportation businesses. More information
about Piedmont Natural Gas is available on the Internet at
http://www.piedmontng.com/.
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SOURCE Piedmont Natural Gas