Duke Energy buys Piedmont Natural Gas Co. for $4.9 billion

Duke Energy finalized its $4.9 billion purchase of Piedmont Natural Gas Co. Monday after receiving approval from the North Carolina Utilities Commission, amid criticism from N.C. environmental groups.

David Trusty, spokesperson for Piedmont Natural Gas, said the merger — originally announced in October 2015 — was an exciting step for the company.

“From the Piedmont side, this is an amazing combination for us because, obviously, we are going into a much larger energy company,” he said. “So the resources that will be available and the types of practices and technology that Duke can bring to the table to help us leverage our product and our service is going to take us further than we would have been on our own.”

Tom Williams, spokesperson for Duke Energy, said they wanted to invest in pipelines because gas infrastructure needs to be built up to meet demand.

He said overall, the deal moved smoothly despite some criticism.

In a statement NC WARN released alongside the North Carolina Housing Coalition and The Climate Times, the groups said they saw four major issues with the way the merger proceeded, including the likelihood of leakage from natural gas infrastructure and financial risks associated with Duke Energy becoming more invested in the natural gas industry.

Jim Warren, executive director of NC WARN, said the deal between Piedmont Natural Gas and Duke Energy was a result of regulators being far too cozy with the two companies.

“The three things that really stick out is a terribly flawed, even rigged, process that allowed the utilities and the regulators to cut a backroom deal before the public or other parties even had a look at the project,” he said.

Warren said the other two objections the nonprofit holds are centered around environmental issues like the methane being released from gas companies possibly being a factor in a three-year period of global flooding. He said the deal may also lead to further reliance on fossil fuels.

“It’s tragic because it comes at the very time that the science is showing clearly that the fracking boom in the U.S. has led the natural gas industry to be the leading driver of climate crisis,” Warren said.

“That’s because of large amounts of methane leaking throughout gas company operations, and the fact is that the electric power industry is the leading driver of the fracking boom.”

Williams said Duke Energy would welcome an alternative to nonrenewable energies, though solar energy would not work for North Carolina in the winter.

“Renewables do not, in winter peak times, fulfill our needs,” he said.

The company has reduced its carbon emissions by 28 percent since 2005 and Duke Energy reduced their carbon emissions by 6 percent last year alone — and natural gas was responsible for this change, he said.

Trusty said one of the catalysts for this merger was the acquisition of Atlanta Gas Light by Southern Company this past summer.

“There you have another primarily electric company acquiring a natural gas utility and I think what that did was foreshadow that natural gas, in combination, had value in the infrastructure that it could and did own and for its expertise in natural gas supply,” he said.

Williams said customers of Duke Energy and Piedmont Natural Gas shouldn’t see major changes in their services.

“We have a duty to keep the lights on and we are doing that as cleanly as we can,” he said.

state@dailytarheel.com