Piedmont Gas “Share the Warmth” Campaign Hopes to Sign up 100,000

The gas company that serves much of Middle Tenneesse is challenging its customers to pay a little extra on their monthly bills.

The money will be given to local agencies that help people in need pay their energy costs.

Piedmont Natural Gas is making an initial contribution of $100,000 to be split among the communities where it does business. If 100,000 customers sign up to the charitable program in the next 60 days, the company will add another $50,000.

For those who do choose to opt-in to the program, Piedmont spokesman David Trusty says the automatic contributions will add up to no more than $12 per year.

“What they would do is just say, look, if my bill is $25.16 then they would round that up to $26, and that extra .84 cents would go to the Share the Warmth Round Up Program.”

Trusty says 100% of that money will be given to charity, and all of it will stay in the county where it is donated. In Nashville, the funds are earmarked for the Metro Action Commission, which helps pay for a variety of household costs, including heating and cooling.

Last year, Nashville Electric Service started and then quickly stopped a similar program. It drew fire because NES customer bills were automatically rounded up unless they chose not to participate. The Piedmont Gas initiative will not round up anyone’s bill unless they indicate they’d like to take part.