Piedmont Natural Gas reaches rate agreement in South Carolina to lower customer costs and fund infrastructure upgrades

Piedmont Natural Gas just reached a major rate deal with key consumer and industrial groups in South Carolina. All four parties—Piedmont, the SC Office of Regulatory Staff, the SC Department of Consumer Affairs, and the SC Energy Users Committee—jointly submitted the agreement to the Public Service Commission last week for review. If you’re one of the roughly 170,000 customers in Anderson, Spartanburg, Greenville, or Cherokee counties, this one’s worth paying attention to.

Agreement reached with South Carolina stakeholders

Having all four parties present a unified proposal to the Public Service Commission is unusual in utility rate proceedings. It signals genuine consensus—not just a compromise grudgingly accepted by one side.

More than 90% of the affected customers are residential. The cost-moderating measures built into this deal are aimed squarely at everyday households heating their homes, not large industrial accounts. Final approval still sits with the Public Service Commission, and if they sign off, new rates could kick in as early as October.

The federal Low Income Energy Assistance Program offers additional support for qualifying customers covering natural gas, electricity, and other home energy costs.

Why the agreement was pursued

Rate cases don’t happen in a vacuum. Piedmont pursued this one to recover investments made in its South Carolina natural gas distribution system—upgrades needed to keep service safe and reliable in a region that keeps growing.

The Upstate has seen steady residential and economic expansion, and that growth puts real pressure on existing infrastructure. Maintaining service quality for new and existing customers requires ongoing capital investment. Utilities typically recover those costs through rate adjustments approved by state regulators.

Rather than filing for a rate increase and letting the commission sort it out, Piedmont engaged with regulatory bodies, consumer advocates, and industrial users. That collaborative process pushed cost-moderating measures to the front of the agreement’s terms.

Key terms: Lower gas costs and customer assistance

The most immediate benefit is a significant reduction in pass-through natural gas commodity costs. These are what Piedmont charges for the gas itself—separate from distribution and infrastructure fees—so lowering them directly cuts monthly bills.

Piedmont also committed to contributing $220,000 over four years to its Share the Warmth energy assistance program in South Carolina. The funds go to local agencies that help low-income individuals and families pay their utility bills. One detail worth knowing: Share the Warmth assistance isn’t limited to natural gas customers. It covers utility bills regardless of energy source.

The agreement highlights two existing programs for customers who need help managing costs. Piedmont’s Equal Payment Plan spreads annual natural gas costs into predictable monthly installments—useful for anyone trying to budget more effectively. The federal Low Income Energy Assistance Program offers additional support for qualifying customers covering natural gas, electricity, and other home energy costs. These aren’t new programs, but the agreement draws attention to them as part of a broader effort to ease cost pressures for lower-income households across the Upstate.

Background: Piedmont Natural Gas and its South Carolina operations

Piedmont Natural Gas is a Duke Energy subsidiary serving more than one million customers across North Carolina and South Carolina. Its South Carolina presence is concentrated in the Upstate—Anderson, Spartanburg, Greenville, and Cherokee counties specifically.

The Public Service Commission of South Carolina oversees rates and services for utilities operating in the state, and any rate change Piedmont pursues has to go through the commission’s review process. That’s exactly where this agreement sits right now.

Rate cases like this are standard operating procedure for regulated utilities. After a cycle of infrastructure investment, a utility files with its state commission to adjust rates and recover costs. The process is designed to balance the utility’s need to fund operations and upgrades against customers’ interest in keeping bills manageable. When a negotiated agreement between a utility and consumer and industrial groups comes before the commission—rather than leaving everyone to argue separately—outcomes tend to be more balanced and the timeline moves faster.

What to know before rates change

If the Public Service Commission approves the agreement, here’s what Upstate South Carolina customers should keep in mind.

That means lower bills for most Piedmont Natural Gas customers even as Piedmont recovers its infrastructure investments. The two changes push in opposite directions, and the agreement was structured so the net result is a cost reduction.

Low-income customers can access Share the Warmth assistance through local agencies; the federal Low Income Energy Assistance Program is available as well. If you haven’t looked into either and think you might qualify, it’s worth applying. The Equal Payment Plan is free and open to anyone who wants more predictable monthly bills. The commission’s final decision—expected in time for an October rate implementation—will determine whether all of this takes effect as written.

Kelly Lippke

Kelly is an experienced writer with 15 years of experience exploring the big stories that shape our world, from tech breakthroughs and space exploration to climate, energy, and the fascinating quirks of science. She has a talent for turning complex ideas into sharp, memorable insights that stay with readers long after they’ve finished reading.