Given current winter price projections and a weather forecast similar to last year, residential customers of Charlotte, NC-based Piedmont Natural Gas may see a drop of 10-15% in their total winter heating bills between November and March, the utility said Monday.

However, Piedmont cautioned that last winter was 10% warmer than normal. If this winter is normal, which is, colder, customers using more gas could see bills similar to those a year ago.

“While we are encouraged by lower wholesale costs for natural gas, weather is still the key determinant in a customer’s winter heating bill,” said CEO Thomas E. Skains. “Because we have such a tight balance between natural gas supply and demand in this country, weather events can trigger immediate and significant changes in the wholesale cost of natural gas. And, of course, winter weather patterns directly influence the amounts of natural gas consumed by our customers.”

Piedmont continued to urge its 990,000 residential, commercial and industrial utility customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee to enroll in the company’s Equal Payment Plan (EPP) and to practice conservation practices to effectively manage winter heating bills.

Piedmont’s EPP allows customers to spread out their higher winter heating bills over the course of a full year. Customers typically make 11 monthly payments that are equal and one monthly payment that takes care of any difference between what the customer was billed for and what they actually consumed. A mid-year review of each customer’s EPP account also is conducted to determine if an adjustment to the customer’s EPP payment needs to be made as a result of any significant fluctuations in consumption or in the wholesale cost of natural gas. Currently, more than 115,000 of Piedmont’s customers are enrolled in Piedmont’s EPP.

“What this all points to is that our customers still need to use energy wisely and practice appropriate conservation measures in order to manage their winter heating bills,” said Skains. “Those are things they can control. What they can’t control is the weather and the wholesale market price of natural gas.”

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