Piedmont Natural Gas is being sold by its parent company Duke Energy in a $2.48 billion deal expected to close early next year. Why it matters: Most people in the Nashville area's natural gas will soon be supplied by Spire,

Duke Energy stands to gain $2.48 billion in cash with the sale of its Piedmont Natural Gas Tennessee local distribution company business to Spire Inc., one of the nation’s largest publicly traded natural gas companies.

Spire Inc. (NYSE: SR) today announced it has entered into an agreement with Piedmont Natural Gas, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), to acquire its Tennessee local distribution company business that serves more than 200,