- March 18 spotlights natural gas
employees' role in serving nearly 189 million Americans with safe,
reliable natural gas
- Natural gas technicians play vital role in modernizing the
natural gas delivery system for growing communities and in helping
to meet the company's net-zero methane emissions goals
- B-roll: Natural gas employees
CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 18,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy and Piedmont Natural
Gas celebrate the ninth annual Natural Gas Utility Workers' Day on
March 18, 2024. The annual
celebration spotlights natural gas workers' role in providing
nearly 189 million Americans with safe, reliable and affordable
natural gas service every day.
More than 2,800 Duke Energy/Piedmont and contract workers are responsible
for the construction, operation and maintenance of more than 35,000
miles of natural gas infrastructure in Kentucky, North
Carolina, Ohio,
South Carolina and Tennessee.
Technicians are often first responders and on the front lines
when natural gas emergencies occur. Their work expanding and
modernizing the natural gas delivery system will help meet the
service needs of customers and growing communities, while also
providing the infrastructure needed to replace higher-carbon
fuels.
"Duke Energy and Piedmont's
employees take pride in their commitment to our customers and to
doing their jobs safely. Their willingness to go above and beyond
to serve others and help keep communities safe is remarkable," said
Sasha Weintraub, senior vice
president and president of Duke Energy's natural gas business.
"From working long hours during an outage to restore our
customers' heat on a cold night to taking active roles in
organizations that support the communities where they live and
work, our natural gas workers truly are inspiring," Weintraub
said.
Read more about Duke Energy's and Piedmont's natural gas employees at Duke
Energy's illumination website.
Natural Gas Utility Workers' Day, established by the American
Public Gas Association in 2015, is intended to build public
awareness about the hard work done by the employees of natural gas
utilities and educate residents on the environmental, safety and
cost benefits of using clean, reliable and affordable natural gas.
It is celebrated March 18 to
commemorate the date of a 1937 incident in New London, Texas, that led to the widespread
odorization of natural gas and an increased emphasis on safety.
More information on natural gas safety can be found at
duke-energy.com/NaturalGasSafety and
piedmontng.com/safety.
Duke Energy Ohio/Kentucky
Duke Energy Ohio/Kentucky, a subsidiary of Duke Energy,
provides electric service to 900,000 residential, commercial and
industrial customers in a 3,000-square-mile service area, and
natural gas service to 550,000 customers in a 2,650-square-mile
service area, in Ohio and
Kentucky.
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 27,600
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 2023 "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.
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 Natural Gas earned the No.
1 spot in customer satisfaction with residential natural gas
service in the South among large utilities for the second year in a
row, according to the J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Gas Utility Residential
Customer Satisfaction Study, and 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.
Media contact: Jason Wheatley
Media Line: 877.348.3612
jason.wheatley@duke-energy.com
Twitter: @PNG_JasonW
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SOURCE Duke Energy