Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas and utilities across the country are celebrating Natural Gas Utility Workers’ Day on March 18. The day puts a spotlight on natural gas workers’ role in providing nearly 189 million Americans with the energy they need to heat and cool their homes, cook food and more.
As we recognize the hard work and accomplishments of our natural gas employees – both today and the generations before us – consider sharing your knowledge of the people or places in these photos. Email illumination@duke-energy.com, and include the photo number or attach the image.
Photo 008: This photo dates back to the early 1900s. We see a young crew from Cincinnati Gas & Electric (later Cinergy before becoming Duke Energy), but that’s all we know. Anything you’d share?
Photo 002: Nashville Gas Company (acquired by Piedmont Natural Gas in 1985) employees pose for a photo in the summer of 1947. At the time, natural gas was 25% cheaper than manufactured gas, and it began to be a more desirable fuel for cooking, water heating, refrigeration and heating of buildings.
Photo 003: We know these gas workers are installing a gas line, but we don’t know when or where the photo was taken. Any guesses?
Photo 005: Do you recognize this gas worker or the vehicle he’s driving? The photo, taken outside of a customer’s home, is from the 1950s.
Photo 001: This fall 1937 photo captured a large team of gas workers from Nashville Gas Company. What might you share?
You helped us learn more about these photos …
Photo 798: Kerry Campbell of Raleigh, N.C., said, “The lady on the phone is Sally Raper. She was our admin at Garner Ops in the late ‘90s. We all loved her and were saddened by her passing in 2002. Great picture with lots of memories.”
Photo 804: We received a dozen or more responses identifying this Carolina Power & Light employee as Kate Brady (later Kate Hilton), a northern transmission area engineer. The photo was taken at a substation in Raleigh, N.C. James Diesfield, Tony Reece and Alex Norwood all knew what she is carrying: an Inframetrics 740 8254 IR Thermal Imaging Radiometer Imaging Camera.
“Looks like early thermography/IR scanning equipment,” Norwood said, “used to look for hotspots on the overhead equipment (buswork, disconnects, etc.). We use much smaller stuff now. They even sell one that attaches to your cellphone.”
Photo 776: With your help, we identified the woman in the red dress as Sharlene (or Charlene) Smith. Smith worked in GIS before transferring to Engineering. Johnny Morton thinks the photo was taken in the spring of 1995.
Photo 807: We’ve learned that this is Kathy Elliott. The photo was taken at Duke Energy’s Robinson Nuclear Plant Unit 1 lab.
Photo 771: This is a photo of Mary Wiggs, a residential marketing manager, Cregg Parks shared.
Photo 779: We now know the unidentified gentleman on the far left is Paul Bolick. Tim Jones said Bolick “was a Veg Supervisor at the time of this photo.”
