Charlotte

Discarding the temporary Gas SpinCo Inc. moniker, Charlotte, NC-based Duke Energy announced Monday that its existing natural gas business will be called Spectra Energy Corp. when the operations become a stand-alone, publicly traded company, which is still targeted to take place Jan. 1, 2007.

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.

Brussels-based Fortis said it completed its $410 million acquisition of Charlotte, NC-based Duke Energy’s commercial marketing and trading business, and expects to be operating on the “second tier” of energy trading companies.

Brussels-based Fortis said it completed its $410 million acquisition of Charlotte, NC-based Duke Energy’s commercial marketing and trading business, and expects to be operating on the “second tier” of energy trading companies.

A lower utility margin due to warmer weather and customer conservation because of high wholesale natural gas prices led to a 4% decline in Charlotte, NC-based Piedmont Natural Gas’ second quarter 2005 net income. Net income slipped to $39.6 million, or $0.52/share, from $41.3 million. or $0.54/share, posted for the same period in 2004.

A lower utility margin due to warmer weather and customer conservation because of high wholesale natural gas prices led to a 4% decline in Charlotte, NC-based Piedmont Natural Gas’ second quarter 2005 net income. Net income slipped to $39.6 million, or $0.52/share, from $41.3 million. or $0.54/share, posted for the same period in 2004.

Charlotte, NC-based Piedmont Natural Gas narrowed its loss this year during the slow summer quarter, reporting a seasonal loss of $8.2 million and ($0.21) diluted loss per share for the fiscal quarter ending July 31, 2004, compared with a $9.7 million loss and a ($0.29) diluted loss per share for the same quarter in 2003 . The company on Friday also announced a two-for-one stock split.

Colder-than-usual weather improved annual income at Charlotte, NC-based Piedmont Natural Gas Co., which reported earnings of $74.4 million ($2.22/share) for fiscal 2003, compared with $62.2 million ($1.89) in 2002. Results included a $5.5 million (17 cents/share) increase because of its changes in accounting, which now record natural gas revenues and costs on volumes delivered but not yet billed.

Making for a busy week for the Charlotte, NC-based company, Duke Energy announced that it has put its Patriot pipeline project into service, implemented a reorganization of the company’s finance and risk management functions and entered into an agreement to sell its Energy Delivery Services business unit, and that was all on Friday.