Infrastructure upgrades help Virginia Natural Gas customers save during colder months
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Dec. 3, 2019 – As temperatures begin to drop, Virginia Natural Gas (VNG) customers are starting to reach for their home thermostats to turn on the heat and take the chill out of the air. To ensure that customers’ energy needs are met this winter, VNG has completed natural gas infrastructure upgrades throughout the service territory, including the completion of the Southside Connector earlier this year.
“VNG’s commitment to meeting our customers’ energy needs during not only the colder winter months, but year-round, is important to us,” said Jim Kibler, Virginia Natural Gas president. “Our employees work all year to ensure we provide our customers with safe, affordable, reliable and clean natural gas. One of the ways we accomplish this is through investments in our infrastructure.”
One recent infrastructure improvement project recently completed by the company, the Southside Connector, is estimated to have already saved VNG customers nearly $500,000 in natural gas costs by providing the company the ability to purchase natural gas from lower-cost sources.
The Southside Connector, a nearly eight-mile pipeline, connected Hampton Roads’ two existing main sources of natural gas supply. It now provides the entire service territory with improved access to natural gas and helps ensure reliable gas supply for the region throughout the cold months ahead.
While the project was designed to improve the reliability of natural gas service to Hampton Roads, it also provides the benefit of enhanced optionality for gas supply purchases to help make certain customers receive the lowest priced natural gas available.
“The investments we have made in infrastructure upgrades and improvements are essential to providing the reliable service our customers expect, and helps ensure we are ready to respond to the increased demands as the temperatures go down,” added Kibler. “This particular investment in the Southside Connector, as well as year-round investments in reliability and resiliency, will help us to continue to deliver safe, affordable, reliable and clean natural gas to our customers.”
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About Virginia Natural Gas
Virginia Natural Gas is one of four natural gas distribution companies of Southern Company Gas, a wholly owned subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO). Virginia Natural Gas provides natural gas service to nearly 300,000 customers in southeast Virginia and has been recognized as one of the safest, most reliable and customer-focused natural gas service providers. Consistently ranked in the top quartile for customer satisfaction by J.D. Power and Associates, the company has also been recognized by the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy and the Virginia Oil and Gas Association for its safety, community outreach and educational programs, and was named Local Distribution Company for three consecutive years. Virginia Natural Gas has been ranked by its business customers as being one of the most Trusted Business Partners in the utility industry according to Cogent Reports, and as one of the Top Workplaces in Hampton Roads by Inside Business. For more information, visit virginianaturalgas.com and connect with the company on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
About Southern Company Gas
Southern Company Gas is a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE:SO), America’s premier energy company. Southern Company Gas serves approximately 4.2 million natural gas utility customers through its regulated distribution companies in four states and approximately 700,000 retail customers through its companies that market natural gas. Other nonutility businesses include investments in interstate pipelines, asset management for natural gas wholesale customers and ownership and operation of natural gas storage facilities. For more information, visit southerncompanygas.com.
Media Contact:
Rick DelaHaya
o: 757.616.7510 | c: 757.323.7366 | rdelahay@southernco.comPress Release Text
