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Piedmont Natural Gas Projects Winter Heating Costs to Remain Flat for 2008-2009 Season

Posted on: Monday, 6 October 2008, 12:00 CDT

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Piedmont Natural Gas Company today announced its annual forecast of winter heating costs for customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. This year's forecast projects that winter heating costs for 2008-2009 will remain flat compared with last year's heating costs. The forecast is based on current price projections for the winter period and assumes weather similar to last year. The forecast notes that temperatures on average during the 2007-2008 winter period were 6% warmer than normal. Colder weather during the period could result in increased consumption of natural gas and higher bills.

Piedmont Natural Gas Chairman, President, and CEO Thomas E. Skains commented, "Certainly, the prospect of natural gas costs remaining flat for the coming winter heating season is good news -- for our customers, for our economy and for our communities. At a time when Americans across our country are faced with economic uncertainty and challenge, are concerned about energy costs and environmental issues and are concerned about our energy security and dependence on foreign oil, natural gas offers customers with a comfortable, responsible energy choice."

Mr. Skains continued, "In the coming months, we will be reaching out to our customers to help them understand why we call natural gas the responsible energy choice and how they can use it more responsibly while enjoying all of its benefits."

For those customers who want to start learning more now, Piedmont's Web site, http://www.piedmontng.com/ , is a great place to start. In addition to a wealth of information on conservation tips and practices, customers can also use self-service features to perform a variety of tasks including viewing and paying their natural gas bill online, enrolling in the company's Equal Payment Program, requesting a payment arrangement, starting or stopping natural gas service, viewing their account history over the previous 12 months and enrolling in Piedmont's bank draft program or updating bank draft information.

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 risks and uncertainties 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, regulatory issues, economic and capital market conditions, the cost and availability of natural gas, weather conditions 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 except as required by applicable laws and regulations. More information about the risks and uncertainties relating to these forward-looking statements may be found in Piedmont's latest Form 10-Q and its other filings with the SEC, which are available on the SEC's Web site 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 1 million residential, commercial and industrial utility customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, including 61,000 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 Company

CONTACT: David Trusty, +1-704-731-4391, +1-704-507-6393,david.trusty@piedmontng.com, Loree Elswick, +1-704-731-4091, +1-704-575-7693,loree.elswick@piedmontng.com, both of Piedmont Natural Gas Company

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

Source: PRNewswire-FirstCall

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