NASHVILLE, Tenn., Oct. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Charlotte-based Piedmont Natural Gas has selected a site in Davidson County for its new Nashville operations center. Construction on Piedmont's new Century City facility will begin later this year and should be completed sometime in the spring or summer of 2010. The Company employs approximately 210 people locally, and serves more than 170,000 customers in Metro Nashville and several surrounding counties.
When completed, Piedmont will relocate to the Century City facility from its existing operations center in MetroCenter. Piedmont sold the MetroCenter property to the state of Tennessee in September. Piedmont has been evaluating sites both in and out of Davidson County since it announced in late 2007 that it would be relocating its operational offices.
Commenting on the Company's decision to remain in Davidson County, Mayor Karl Dean said, "Obviously, we are very pleased that Piedmont Natural Gas has chosen to build its new facility here in Nashville, the heart of our thriving Middle Tennessee region. I am also pleased with their decision to build a LEED-certified building which demonstrates their commitment to sustainable development. The Company's Nashville operations have been associated with our city for a very long time and they certainly are a valued member of the business community here. We welcome this announcement."
Nashville City Councilman Phil Claiborne, whose district includes the site on which Piedmont's new operations center will be built, commented, "We're certainly glad that Piedmont Natural Gas will be keeping their facilities here in Davidson County. The site they've chosen in Century City keeps them close to their Nashville customer base and provides them with efficiencies in terms of their daily operations."
Piedmont Natural Gas Chairman, President and CEO, Thomas E. Skains said, "We are very pleased to have located a site for our new Nashville operations center here in Davidson County. Our new location will allow us to continue providing efficient customer service to our growing customer base in Middle Tennessee while also giving our employees a centralized location from which to work. Nashville's positive leadership and the vibrant business community that exist here were also important factors in our decision-making process."
New Facility will be LEED-Certified
Piedmont Natural Gas, a member of the U.S. Green Building Council, is having the new facility designed as a LEED-(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified building. To obtain the nonprofit group's LEED certification, buildings are rated on six major areas including sustainable sites, water use, energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality and materials and resources. The rating system was originally developed for new commercial and institutional buildings, but versions are in place or under development for schools, homes, existing buildings, and neighborhoods.
As a member of USGBC, Piedmont is part of a growing, broad-based coalition of architects, consulting engineers, developers, contractors, government agencies and others who promote buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work.
Commenting further on the new facility, Mr. Skains said, "Promoting green building practices are a natural extension of our valued trade ally relationships in the design and construction industry and a natural extension of our product -- environmentally friendly and clean-burning natural gas. We strongly support the use of clean energy and using all energy wisely in order to promote energy efficiency while addressing environmental issues."
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/.
