CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Piedmont Natural Gas received the Champions Award for Medium Sized Employers at today's Clean Air Works! Champions luncheon in Charlotte. Clean Air Works! is a project of the Regional Air Quality Board, a regional entity that brings together businesses, elected officials and public staff from cities and counties around the Charlotte area to work collaboratively on projects to improve air quality.
The Champions Award is presented to a Clean Air Works! Partner that has shown the best use of available resources to influence employees to use commute options, reduce trips and retool operations and maintenance activities.
Piedmont Chairman, President and CEO Thomas E. Skains commented on the award, "Piedmont and its employees are very appreciative of winning this award. Clean air, obviously, is very important to all of us and certainly to our region. Our employees have demonstrated a great deal of leadership and creativity in developing programs and activities that make a difference."
During 2007 Piedmont implemented a number of initiatives designed to reduce emissions, encourage carpooling and increase utilization of mass transit alternatives as ways of promoting clean air. Through the Company's Clean Air Committee led by its employees, Piedmont initiated a gas cap check program, hosted "Stay In For Lunch Programs" on Ozone Alert Days, and offered incentives such as complimentary CATS bus passes for employees who tried riding the bus to work and provided preferred parking for employees who carpooled.
Piedmont employees Matt Kanes and Linda Benish were also awarded Project Leader Awards at the luncheon. Project Leader awards are given to those employees who have a hands-on role in implementing the Clean Air Works! project and demonstrate leadership, enthusiasm and creativity in making commute alternatives available at their worksite.
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 62,000 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/.
