Piedmont Natural Gas Seeks Recovery of $1.7 Billion in Capital Investments to Serve Customers

Piedmont Natural Gas, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, has filed a request with the North Carolina Utilities Commission to recover approximately $1.7 billion in capital investments for expansion and improvements to its system. This request represents a 10.4% increase in the company's revenues. The company aims to accommodate growth in its communities, decrease price volatility for customers, and meet federally required safety improvements. If approved, the requested increase would take effect in November 2021, with the average residential customer in North Carolina paying about $8 more per month, or $95 more per year.

Key Takeaways:

• Piedmont Natural Gas seeks to recover $1.7 billion in capital investments to expand and improve its system, serving existing and new customers.
• The company aims to decrease price volatility for customers and meet federally required safety improvements.
• The requested increase, if approved, would take effect in November 2021, with the average residential customer in North Carolina paying about $8 more per month, or $95 more per year.
• Piedmont serves six of the 10 most populated cities in the state, with its customer base in North Carolina increasing by more than 42,000 customers since January 2018.
• The company is committed to providing reliable natural gas service to customers, while also protecting them from unexpected outages and volatile high rates.
• Piedmont's senior vice president, Sasha Weintraub, emphasized the importance of strengthening and improving the system to meet increasing customer demand.
• The company is providing customer assistance programs, including payment assistance, energy efficiency programs, and disaster relief.
• Piedmont is continuing its customer assistance programs, discontinuing credit card fees for customer payments, and expanding energy efficiency programs.
• The company is offering three new energy efficiency programs: Residential New Construction Program, Commercial Food Service Program, and Commercial HVAC & Water Heating Program.

Statistics:

• Capital investments: $1.7 billion
• Revenue increase: 10.4%
• Monthly increase: $8
• Annual increase: $95
• Customer base in North Carolina: +42,000 since January 2018
• Operating locations: 6 of the 10 most populated cities in North Carolina
• Employee size: 30,000 (Duke Energy)
• Generations capacity: 51,000 megawatts (Duke Energy regulated utilities)

Sources:

• Piedmont Natural Gas: www.piedmontng.com
• North Carolina Utilities Commission: NCUC
• Duke Energy: duke-energy.com
• Piedmont Natural Gas press release (March 22, 2021)
• NCUC: www.ncuc.com