CHARLOTTE ó Piedmont Natural Gas Co. projects winter heating costs for 2008-2009 will remain flat compared with last year’s heating costs for customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, the company said in a press release.
The forecast is based on current price projections for the winter period and assumes weather similar to last year. The forecast notes that temperatures on average during the 2007-2008 winter period were 6 percent warmer than normal. Colder weather during the period could result in increased consumption of natural gas and higher bills, the company said.
“Certainly, the prospect of natural gas costs remaining flat for the coming winter heating season is good news ó for our customers, for our economy and for our communities,” Thomas E. Skains, the company’s chairman, president and chief executive officer, said in the press release.