J. David Pickard, former Chairman, President and CEO of Piedmont Natural Gas passed away Thursday, February 15, at age 91.

J. David Pickard began his career at the Company in 1951 when Piedmont acquired the gas properties of Duke Power. At that time, he was the Superintendent of Duke’s Charlotte District gas department. Prior to his engineering career, Mr. Pickard served as a Navy Ensign in World War II and participated as a member of the amphibious forces that went into Northern Africa, Sicily, Italy and Salerno.

An engineer by trade, Mr. Pickard rose through the ranks of Piedmont Natural Gas serving in various capacities including the Company’s Vice President of Operations, Senior Vice President of Divisions and Senior Vice President of Operations.

J. David Pickard was a well-respected leader of Piedmont Natural Gas who helped guide the Company through periods of uncertainty and challenge in the natural gas industry. He was a valued contributor to the Charlotte community and will be missed by the Company and industry he served for so many years.

About Piedmont Natural Gas
Piedmont Natural Gas (NYSE:PNY) 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. More information about Piedmont Natural Gas is available on the Internet at http://www.piedmontng.com/.