Piedmont Natural Gas Announces Executive Promotions and Realignment
October 23 2009 - 11:48AM
PR Newswire (US)
Organizational moves emphasize Company's commitment to customer
service and process improvement; added focus on business
development and strategies for a low-carbon energy future
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/. DATASOURCE: Piedmont Natural Gas
CONTACT: Media: David Trusty, +1-704-731-4391, Web Site:
http://www.piedmontng.com/
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