* Utility tops peers in the South Large segment for first time
* Company committed to its think-customer approach
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Piedmont Natural Gas earned the No. 1 spot in customer satisfaction with residential natural gas service in the South among large utilities, according to the J.D. Power 2022 Gas Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study.
This is the first time Piedmont Natural Gas has received the No.1 ranking, topping six other utilities in the South Large segment.
"Earning top honors in customer satisfaction demonstrates our strategy to put customers first," said Sasha Weintraub, senior vice president and president of Piedmont Natural Gas. "Our think-customer approach is simple - listen to what our customers say and act on it. We work daily to deliver what matters most to them - safe, reliable, affordable and increasingly clean energy. We are grateful these efforts have been noticed, and I'm proud of the entire Piedmont Natural Gas team for this recognition."
Piedmont's efforts to understand and address the needs of customers earned top rankings in the following study factors: billing and payment, corporate citizenship, communications, customer care and safety and reliability.
J.D. Power represents the voice of customers. This year's study results are based on responses from over 57,000 online interviews conducted from January 2022 through October 2022 with residential customers of the 84 largest natural gas utility brands, representing nearly 64.6 million households across the United States. J.D. Power began measuring the customer satisfaction of natural gas utilities in 2002.
Piedmont Natural Gas
Piedmont Natural Gas, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, distributes natural gas to more than 1.1 million residential, commercial, industrial and power generation customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Piedmont has been named by Cogent Reports as one of the most trusted utility brands in the U.S. More information: piedmontng.com. Follow Piedmont Natural Gas: Twitter, Facebook.
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America's largest energy holding companies. Its electric utilities serve 8.2 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 50,000 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas unit serves 1.6 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. The company employs 28,000 people.
Duke Energy is executing an aggressive clean energy transition to achieve its goals of net-zero methane emissions from its natural gas business by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions from electricity generation by 2050. The company has interim carbon emission targets of at least 50% reduction from electric generation by 2030, 50% for Scope 2 and certain Scope 3 upstream and downstream emissions by 2035, and 80% from electric generation by 2040. In addition, the company is investing in major electric grid enhancements and energy storage, and exploring zero-emission power generation technologies such as hydrogen and advanced nuclear.
Duke Energy was named to Fortune's 2022 "World's Most Admired Companies" list and Forbes' "World's Best Employers" list. More information is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke Energy News Center contains news releases, fact sheets, photos and videos. Duke Energy's illumination features stories about people, innovations, community topics and environmental issues. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.
Media Contact: Meghan Miles
Piedmont Natural Gas
704.995.9386
Meghan.Miles@duke-energy.com
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DUKE ENERGY CORPORATION 
