Oct. 23, 2009 (PR Newswire) --

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Piedmont Natural Gas (NYSE: PNY) today announced organizational moves designed to further align the Company with the needs of its customers and strengthen its focus on continuous process improvement. The moves will also help position the Company for additional investment or business opportunities that may occur as a result of carbon related legislation or regulation. The effective date of the organizational moves is November 1.

Thomas E. Skains, Piedmont's Chairman, President and CEO commented, "We are very excited about these organizational moves and believe they will serve to further emphasize our commitment to customer service and continuous improvement in the way we conduct our business. With these moves, we will also be in a better position to evaluate and take advantage of new investment and business opportunities that may occur as carbon related legislation or regulation is considered."

Ms. June Moore has been named Vice President - Enterprise Quality Management for the Company. Ms. Moore has served in a variety of executive positions since joining the Company in 1986, including her current role as Vice President - Customer Service and, prior to that, Vice President - Information Services. The newly formed Enterprise Quality Management team led by Ms. Moore will represent the needs of Piedmont's customers by working to improve operational effectiveness through process improvement and enterprise project management. Ms. Moore will report directly to Piedmont Chairman, President and CEO, Thomas E. Skains.

Ms. Ranelle Warfield has been named Vice President - Customer Service. Ms. Warfield previously served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing over the Company's three-state service area of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee and has been with the Company since 1981. As Vice President - Customer Service, Ms. Warfield will be responsible for all customer service operations, including the Customer Contact Centers, Customer Service Support, Credit and Collections, Billing, Meter Reading, and the recently announced Service Scheduling function. Ms. Warfield will report directly to Mr. Frank Yoho, Piedmont's Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations.

Mr. Ken Valentine has been promoted to the new position of Vice President - Business Development and Carbon Management Strategies. Mr. Valentine previously served as Piedmont's Managing Director - Planning and Project Management. Since joining Piedmont in 1996, Mr.