Piedmont Natural Gas responds to Charlotte-area complaints about ‘insane’ bills

Jack Miller expected winter heating costs — but not a $500 gas bill for an empty home.

Miller, a Charlotte resident, said he kept the thermostat set at about 60 degrees in a house he had already moved out of, hoping only to prevent pipes from freezing. No one was living there, he said, and there was no hot water use. Still, his January Piedmont Natural Gas bill was higher than it had ever been.

“I thought it was insane,” Miller said. “I thought there must be a gas leak.”

Miller is among a wave of Piedmont Natural Gas customers across the Charlotte region who say their bills this winter were unusually high, with some reporting charges hundreds of dollars above what they typically pay. While cold temperatures and increased heating demand can drive seasonal increases, several customers told The Charlotte Observer the spikes felt steeper than past winters, prompting confusion, frustration and, in some cases, complaints to the utility.

Piedmont Natural Gas said the bills – up an average of 20% from last winter – are due to the increased price of gas and cold weather.

Hundreds of dollars more

Miller said his concerns grew after comparing the vacant home’s bill with charges at the house he currently lives in which is a larger property with more gas appliances. That home’s bill, he said, was significantly lower at $330. He contacted Piedmont Natural Gas to ask whether there might be a problem. When the answer wasn’t satisfactory, Miller reported the company to the Better Business Bureau.

“They said maybe the new gas meter was reading more accurately, but I don’t believe that at all,” Miller said. “I reported them to the Better Business Bureau, because I’m not going to be lazy, pay the bills, move out. I want an explanation why a smaller home that’s unoccupied has a higher gas bill than an occupied larger home.”

Other Charlotte-area residents described similar sticker shock.

Madison Wolf, who lives in the Hembstead neighborhood in southeast Charlotte, said her most recent gas bill was about $600 — up from $400 the month prior and around $350 last winter. Wolf said she didn’t increase her gas usage in any meaningful way and tried to conserve during recent winter storms.

“Thankfully, we can afford it. But also my reaction was that there are people out there who can’t, because this is a huge bill that you’re just not expecting. You budget for what you have in the past, so when it doubles, it’s definitely, definitely shocking.”

For Elizabeth Dancy, the spike was impossible to ignore. The Piedmont Natural Gas customer said her January bill climbed to about $700, compared with roughly $400 for the same month last year. Like Wolf, Dancy said the increase caught her off guard because her family’s heating habits remained largely consistent. She has a smart thermostat and keeps her home at 68 degrees during the day and 61 degrees at night.

“You can almost see your breath in my house in the morning before it taps on… It’s just completely unexpected to have something this high. I mean, in the winters, I know it definitely can get in the three, four, even maybe $500, but $700?” Dancy said. “Every winter there’s always an extreme cold snap. But to me, there’s nothing extraordinary that would warrant this much of a hike.”

David Whitley Jr. said the January bill for his 3,400 square-foot home was $910, up from $768 last January and about $410 in January 2024. He called a Piedmont technician out to check for leaks but found none.

“My first thought was it sure feels like we are getting screwed,” Whitley said.

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Why were Piedmont Natural Gas bills more expensive?

Piedmont Natural Gas, which is owned by Duke Energy, said weather-driven usage increases and the price of gas were the biggest factors behind higher bills.

The cost of gas has increased since last January, Jason Wheatley, lead communications manager for Piedmont, said in an emailed statement. Those costs are passed “directly to customers dollar-for-dollar.”

Wheatley said the company works to purchase gas at the best possible price during the summer when demand and prices are lower.

This winter brought several stretches of dangerously cold weather across Charlotte and the broader region. A snowstorm last month brought some of the heaviest snowfall to the area in about 20 years, tying 1880 for the fourth greatest single-snowfall day in the city’s history.

“The weather has been the major driver behind increases Piedmont Natural Gas customers may be seeing,” Wheatley said. “Higher energy consumption related to colder temperatures is the largest contributor to increases in the average household’s home-heating expenditures during the winter months.”

Wheatley cited December cold snaps and freezing conditions associated with recent winter storms, saying the record lows and duration of those freezes caused heating systems to work harder and longer.

Even so, the company emphasized that some costs have recently declined. Wheatley said Piedmont implemented a rate reduction for residential and small business customers in North Carolina effective Jan. 1. The benchmark commodity cost of natural gas also decreased Feb. 1, falling from $4.50 per dekatherm to $4.00 per dekatherm.

The company suggests customers looking to save money on gas bills should reduce energy use, seal air ducts, seal the home, consider insulation and use a smart thermostat.

For some residents like Miller, however, the explanation remains unsatisfying.

“That sounds like a convenient answer to them trying to take advantage of a situation where they can price gouge people. Because, I mean, we had snow, cool, great. It was cold last year too… and my gas bill in January of last year was not $500.”