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Piedmont Natural Gas Announces Natural Gas Storage Project in North Carolina

Posted on: Monday, 9 June 2008, 09:01 CDT

CHARLOTTE, N.C., June 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- At a news conference today in Lumberton, North Carolina with local officials, Charlotte-based Piedmont Natural Gas announced the Company's intent to design, construct, own and operate a new Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) peak storage facility in North Carolina. The company is evaluating several sites in Robeson County, North Carolina and expects to make a final site selection in the coming weeks. The new facility will be able to store approximately 1.25 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas for use during times of peak demand and is planned to be in service in time for the 2012 - 2013 winter heating season. There are more than 100 such LNG peak storage facilities in operation throughout the United States. Although the project is still in the preliminary engineering phase, Piedmont's investment in the new facility is expected to be in the range of $300 - 350 million.

When completed, the new LNG facility will be the fifth such peak storage facility that Piedmont owns or operates within its three-state service area. Currently, the Company has two other LNG facilities in North Carolina and one such facility in Nashville, Tennessee. Piedmont is also an equity partner in Pine Needle LNG, a joint venture with subsidiaries of The Williams Companies, SCANA Corporation, Hess Corporation and the Municipal Gas Authority of Georgia, that owns and operates a separate LNG peak storage facility near Greensboro, North Carolina.

In announcing the project, Piedmont Natural Gas Chairman, President, and CEO, Thomas E. Skains said, "This is an exciting project for Piedmont and one that represents a significant investment in our gas distribution and transmission infrastructure. The Robeson County LNG facility will provide us with needed additional capacity to meet the firm requirements of our growing customer base in the Carolinas." Commenting further on the project, Mr. Skains said, "We believe this project and this investment will also provide Robeson County with significant positive impacts not only in economic terms but also in terms of our expanded presence in the County. Piedmont is a very active and engaged corporate citizen in the areas we serve and we take great pride in making positive contributions to the communities in which our employees live, work and raise their families."

Robeson County Board of Commissioners Chairman Noah Woods commented on the project, "Robeson County is proud to host this facility. When completed, this facility will represent one of the largest business investments made here and will add significantly to the County's tax base. We're excited to have Piedmont Natural Gas here and we welcome their expanded role in our community."

LNG peaking facilities have long been used as an efficient and cost-effective means of storing natural gas, the cleanest and most environmentally friendly of all fossil fuels, for use during times of peak demand by local natural gas distribution companies such as Piedmont. Piedmont has utilized LNG to help manage its seasonal winter demand since the mid-1970's.

During the next 2 - 3 months, project development activities will be focused on survey work and evaluation of potential sites. Once a suitable site has been selected, a more formal design process will begin. Piedmont has been and will be communicating and working with local and state authorities on the project, which is expected to have a significant, positive economic impact in the region. For more information about the project, please contact Piedmont Natural Gas directly at the contact information listed below or visit http://www.piedmontng.com/.

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 future events, risks, uncertainties and other factors 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, economic conditions, competition from other providers of similar products 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. More information about the risks and uncertainties relating to these forward- looking statements may be found in Piedmont's 2007 Form 10-K, which is 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. Additional information about Piedmont is available on the Internet at http://www.piedmontng.com/.

About Robeson County, North Carolina

Robeson County, the largest county in the state of North Carolina, is located approximately 1.5 hours from North Carolina's beaches and 3 hours from the mountains. As of 2004, the county had a population of 126,469; an increase of 2.54% from the 2000 census. Robeson County was incorporated in 1787 from Bladen County and was named for Col. Thomas Robeson of the Revolutionary War. Lumberton, the county seat, is one of twenty-nine townships within the county.

Piedmont Natural Gas

CONTACT: David L. Trusty, Piedmont Natural Gas, +1-704-731-4391 - W, or+1-704-507-6393 - C, david.trusty@piedmontng.com

Web site: http://www.piedmontng.com/

Source: PRNewswire-FirstCall

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