CHARLOTTE, N.C., April 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Piedmont Natural Gas (NYSE: PNY) today announced an agreement with Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, home to the U.S. Marine Corps' II Marine Expeditionary Force, to greatly expand its natural gas facilities at the historic base located in Jacksonville, North Carolina.  The three-year and approximately $15 million expansion project will involve the construction of more than 55 miles of new natural gas mains, services, and other facilities to approximately 500 existing structures to help increase the energy efficiency on the base.  Construction is currently underway and is scheduled for completion in 2016.

The new natural gas facilities will allow Camp Lejeune to "decentralize" and reduce inefficiencies associated with its existing "centralized" coal and fuel-oil fired steam system.  Each decentralized building will be disconnected from the existing steam system and replaced with a more efficient natural gas boiler unit, resulting in substantial annual cost savings.  Natural gas, on an energy equivalent basis, emits approximately 50 percent less CO₂ than coal and 30 percent less CO₂ than fuel-oil, making it the best fossil fuel source available to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Commenting on the agreement with Camp Lejeune, Piedmont Natural Gas Vice President for Sales and Delivery Services, Bill Williams, said, "This is an exciting project for Piedmont and one we are pleased and honored to be working on with Camp Lejeune.  With the construction of the new natural gas infrastructure, the base will be more energy efficient, which should help reduce its overall energy costs, and have a smaller carbon footprint."

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, industrial and power generation utility customers in portions of North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, including customers served by municipalities who are wholesale customers. Our subsidiaries are invested in joint venture, energy-related businesses, including unregulated retail natural gas marketing, and regulated interstate natural gas transportation and storage, and regulated intrastate natural gas transportation businesses. More information about Piedmont Natural Gas is available on the Internet at http://www.piedmontng.com/.

SOURCE Piedmont Natural Gas Company