Piedmont Natural Gas Announces Extended Customer Service Hours, Location for Customer Updates in Advance of Hurricane Irene

Piedmont Natural Gas Announces Extended Customer Service Hours, Location for Customer Updates in Advance of Hurricane Irene

Company encourages customers to visit website for hurricane-related information and updates

As a precaution in response to potential impacts from Hurricane Irene on our customers and communities in the eastern portion of North Carolina, Piedmont Natural Gas (NYSE: PNY) today announced extended customer contact hours and increased customer service staffing levels for the upcoming weekend. On Saturday, Piedmont’s customer contact center will be available to customers from 8:00 a.m. through midnight and on Sunday, from 7:00 a.m. through 2:00 p.m. Customers with service questions or concerns should call Piedmont Natural Gas at 1-800-752-7504. In the event of an emergency, customers should call 911.

As a convenience to our customers and the general public, especially those in Eastern North Carolina, the company will also post hurricane-related updates pertaining to natural gas service or safety on its website, www.piedmontng.com, throughout the course of the weekend and beyond as needed.

“The safety and well being of our employees and the residents in the communities we serve are the top priority for Piedmont Natural Gas as we prepare for the potential impacts of Hurricane Irene,” said Michael Yount, senior vice president and chief utility operations officer for Piedmont Natural Gas. “We are obviously taking this situation very seriously and are making the necessary preparations for the continued safe and reliable operation of our natural gas distribution system.”

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 52,000 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.

Piedmont Natural Gas
David Trusty, 704-731-4391
Mobile: 704-507-6393
david.trusty@piedmontng.com
or
Loree Elswick, 704-731-4236
Mobile: 704-575-7693
loree.elswick@piedmontng.com