CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Piedmont Natural Gas (NYSE: PNY) today announced organizational moves designed to further align the Company with the needs of its customers and strengthen its focus on continuous process improvement. The moves will also help position the Company for additional investment or business opportunities that may occur as a result of carbon related legislation or regulation. The effective date of the organizational moves is November 1.

Thomas E. Skains, Piedmont's Chairman, President and CEO commented, "We are very excited about these organizational moves and believe they will serve to further emphasize our commitment to customer service and continuous improvement in the way we conduct our business. With these moves, we will also be in a better position to evaluate and take advantage of new investment and business opportunities that may occur as carbon related legislation or regulation is considered."

Ms. June Moore has been named Vice President - Enterprise Quality Management for the Company. Ms. Moore has served in a variety of executive positions since joining the Company in 1986, including her current role as Vice President - Customer Service and, prior to that, Vice President - Information Services. The newly formed Enterprise Quality Management team led by Ms. Moore will represent the needs of Piedmont's customers by working to improve operational effectiveness through process improvement and enterprise project management. Ms. Moore will report directly to Piedmont Chairman, President and CEO, Thomas E. Skains.

Ms. Ranelle Warfield has been named Vice President - Customer Service. Ms. Warfield previously served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing over the Company's three-state service area of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee and has been with the Company since 1981. As Vice President - Customer Service, Ms. Warfield will be responsible for all customer service operations, including the Customer Contact Centers, Customer Service Support, Credit and Collections, Billing, Meter Reading, and the recently announced Service Scheduling function. Ms. Warfield will report directly to Mr. Frank Yoho, Piedmont's Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations.

Mr. Ken Valentine has been promoted to the new position of Vice President - Business Development and Carbon Management Strategies. Mr. Valentine previously served as Piedmont's Managing Director - Planning and Project Management. Since joining Piedmont in 1996, Mr. Valentine has held management positions in the areas of supply planning, transportation services, and Federal regulatory activities. In his new position, Mr. Valentine will lead the Company's effort in evaluating and pursuing new investment and business opportunities that complement Piedmont's existing regulated and non-regulated businesses. Mr. Valentine's group will also be responsible for developing strategies around potential opportunities associated with potential carbon legislation and regulation. Mr. Valentine will report directly to Piedmont Chairman, President and CEO, Thomas E. Skains.

Mr. Bill Williams has been promoted to the position of Vice President of Sales and Delivery Services. Mr. Williams previously served as Piedmont's Managing Director - Transportation and Major Account Services. Prior to joining Piedmont in 2006, Mr. Williams had been General Manager of Gas Supply and Sales with PSNC Energy. In his new role, Mr. Williams will be responsible for Piedmont's regulated sales and delivery services, all sales and marketing activities, and upstream transportation and storage. Mr. Williams will report directly to Mr. Frank Yoho, Piedmont's Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations.

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 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. Additional information about Piedmont is available on the Internet at http://www.piedmontng.com.

SOURCE Piedmont Natural Gas