Piedmont Natural Gas Files First North Carolina General Rate Case in Three Years

Company seeks expansion of energy conservation and efficiency programs,
permanent extension of margin decoupling mechanism

CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Piedmont Natural Gas
(NYSE: PNY) today filed its first general rate case in three years with the
North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC). Piedmont is seeking to expand its
energy efficiency and conservation programs and permanently extend a margin
decoupling mechanism that was previously approved on a three-year basis by the
NCUC in the 2005 rate case. In addition, the Company is proposing to recover
the additional costs and capital investments made by the Company to maintain
and grow its natural gas distribution system since its last general rate case
in 2005.
In the request filed with the NCUC, Piedmont is proposing to expand
funding for such energy conservation and efficiency programs as weatherization
initiatives for low income energy consumers and non-profit institutions,
conservation outreach, and additional communication efforts.
Piedmont is also seeking to extend its margin decoupling tariff that gives
the Company the opportunity to recover its approved distribution margins in
the face of continuing declines in customer usage of natural gas, occurring as
a result of energy efficiency gains and customer conservation efforts. Since
the 2005 rate case, Piedmont's residential customers have decreased their
average annual consumption of natural gas by 12%. The decoupling mechanism
aligns the interests of Piedmont with its customers, allowing the Company to
encourage and promote customer conservation efforts and energy efficiency
programs to reduce their monthly bills, while providing Piedmont the
opportunity to earn a reasonable and fair return on its investment in gas
distribution assets.
Piedmont's filing, if approved, would also increase annual revenues by $41
million, or 4%. The increase would help cover the additional costs and
capital investments made by the Company to maintain and grow its natural gas
distribution systems since the 2005 general rate case. For the average
residential customer in North Carolina, the proposed increase would result in
an average increase of $4 per month on an annual basis. If approved, the rate
increase would become effective November 1, 2008.
Piedmont Natural Gas Chairman, President and CEO, Thomas E. Skains
commented on the filing, "Since our last rate case in 2005, we have continued
to experience annual customer growth at a rate of approximately 3%, adding
53,000 additional natural gas customers to our North Carolina system, and
placing Piedmont among the fastest growing natural gas distribution companies
in the United States. The $264 million of capital investments we've made in
North Carolina over the last three years have helped us continue to provide
safe and reliable natural gas service to our customers in the state. Our
investments in technology and business process improvements have also allowed
us to provide our customers best-in-class customer service, something we've
been recognized for within our industry."
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.
Additional information about Piedmont is available on the Internet at
http://www.piedmontng.com.
SOURCE Piedmont Natural Gas Company

David L. Trusty of Piedmont Natural Gas, +1-704-731-4391, or cell,
+1-704-507-6393, david.trusty@piedmontng.com