CHARLOTTE, N.C., June 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Piedmont Natural Gas (NYSE: PNY) today announced the appointment of Mr. Bruce Barkley to the position of Vice President - Regulatory Affairs, Rates and Gas Cost Accounting. Mr. Barkley will join the company on August 10, 2015. The Company also announced today that Mr. David Carpenter, currently Vice President - Regulatory Affairs, has been named Vice President - Regulatory Policy until his planned retirement on December 31, 2015.

Prior to his appointment at Piedmont Natural Gas, Mr. Barkley served as Duke Energy's Manager - Regulatory Affairs, a position he has held since 2012. In his new role, Mr. Barkley will be responsible for regulatory relations and rates in Piedmont's three-state service area, and for the Company's gas cost accounting function. Mr. Barkley will report to Piedmont Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Karl Newlin.

Mr. Newlin commented on the addition of Barkley to the Company's officer team, "We're very excited and pleased to have Bruce join our officer team and leadership group at Piedmont. His background and extensive experience within the regulatory arena, along with his leadership abilities, are well suited for this area of Piedmont's operations."

Mr. Barkley graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in Business Administration and also has an MBA from Wake Forest University. Mr. Barkley, a native of Northampton County, North Carolina, is a licensed CPA and currently resides in Holly Springs, North Carolina. Mr. Barkley and his wife will be relocating to Charlotte.

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, industrial and power generation utility customers in portions of North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, including customers served by municipalities who are wholesale customers. Our subsidiaries are invested in joint venture, energy-related businesses, including unregulated retail natural gas marketing, and regulated interstate natural gas transportation and storage, and regulated intrastate natural gas transportation businesses. More information about Piedmont Natural Gas is available on the Internet at http://www.piedmontng.com/.

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SOURCE Piedmont Natural Gas