Duke Energy completes sale of its Tennessee Piedmont Natural Gas business to Spire

Rhea-AI Summary

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) completed the sale of its Tennessee Piedmont Natural Gas business to Spire (NYSE: SR) for $2.48 billion on March 31, 2026.

Approximately $800 million will pay down Piedmont debt; the remaining $1.5 billion (net of tax) will help fund a $103 billion regulated capital plan over five years. The transaction includes nearly 3,800 miles of pipeline serving >200,000 customers.

Positive

• Sale proceeds of $2.48 billion strengthen balance sheet
• $1.5 billion net proceeds allocated to fund capital plan
• Transaction transfers nearly 3,800 miles of pipeline and >200,000 customers
• Piedmont Tennessee employees transitioned to Spire to maintain operations

Negative

• Duke divested Tennessee natural gas footprint serving >200,000 customers
• $800 million of proceeds used to pay down Piedmont debt rather than other uses

News Market Reaction – DUK

-0.03%

-0.03% Session close to close

In the Apr 1 session, DUK declined 0.03%, reflecting a mild negative market reaction.

Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.

Market Context

This announcement details Duke’s completed sale of its Tennessee Piedmont Natural Gas business to Sp...

Analysis

This announcement details Duke’s completed sale of its Tennessee Piedmont Natural Gas business to Spire for $2.48 billion, with about $800 million used to reduce Piedmont debt and $1.5 billion supporting a $103 billion five-year regulated capital plan. The move fits alongside recent regulatory filings emphasizing large-scale grid and generation investments. Investors may track how efficiently these proceeds are allocated relative to that plan and how the transaction affects Duke’s natural gas footprint and customer growth profile.

Key Figures

Sale price: $2.48 billion Debt paydown: $800 million Net proceeds to capex: $1.5 billion +5 more

8 metrics

Sale price $2.48 billion Consideration for Tennessee Piedmont Natural Gas business sale to Spire

Debt paydown $800 million Portion of proceeds to reduce Piedmont Natural Gas debt

Net proceeds to capex $1.5 billion Proceeds, net of tax, to fund regulated capital plan

Five-year capital plan $103 billion Planned regulated investments over next five years

Electric customers 8.7 million Electric utilities customer count across six states

Energy capacity 55,700 megawatts Owned electric energy capacity

TN pipeline mileage 3,800 miles Nearly 3,800 miles of distribution and transmission pipelines sold

TN gas customers 200,000+ customers Customers served by Tennessee Piedmont Natural Gas business

Historical Context

5 past events · Latest: Mar 26 (Positive)

Pattern 5 events

Date	Event	Sentiment	24h Move	Catalyst
Mar 26	Generation expansion	Positive	+0.9%	Approval for new 1,365 MW South Carolina combined-cycle natural gas plant.
Mar 25	Customer assistance	Positive	+0.6%	Florida bill relief and $30.5M assistance for roughly 31,000 customers.
Mar 20	Usage alerts	Positive	-2.3%	Promotion of energy usage alerts and billing tools for Florida customers.
Mar 19	Storm grants	Positive	-0.8%	$500,000 in grants to bolster North Carolina storm preparedness efforts.
Mar 19	Workforce partnership	Positive	-0.8%	Grants to Florida colleges to expand electrical lineworker training pipeline.

24h Move is the share-price change in the day after each event; other market factors may also have contributed.

Pattern Detected

Recent Duke news often skews positive, but price reactions are mixed: regulatory and assistance headlines sometimes align with small gains, while community-focused or customer tools releases have coincided with mild declines.

Recent Company History

Over recent months, Duke Energy has reported several operational and community-focused milestones, including South Carolina approval for a ~1,365 MW natural gas plant, Florida bill assistance impacting about 31,000 customers, energy usage alert tools, and storm-preparedness grants of $500,000. Many of these support its broader strategy and a $103 billion five-year capital plan highlighted in regulatory filings. Today’s Tennessee gas business sale for $2.48 billion fits into this capital allocation and infrastructure investment narrative.

Key Terms

transmission pipelines

1 terms

transmission pipelines technical

"included nearly 3,800 miles of distribution and transmission pipelines serving more"

Transmission pipelines are large, long-distance pipes that carry oil, natural gas or other fuels from production areas to refineries, storage hubs and major markets—think of them as highways for energy. Investors watch them because they generate steady fees, face safety and regulatory risks, and can bottleneck supply; disruptions or capacity changes can affect commodity prices, company cash flow and the value of the firms that own or use the pipelines.

AI-generated analysis. How Rhea-AI works. Not financial advice.

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• Close of transaction previously announced in July 2025
• Proceeds to help fund industry's largest regulated capital plan

CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 31, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) today announced it has completed the sale of its Tennessee Piedmont Natural Gas business to Spire – one of the largest publicly traded natural gas companies in the country – for $2.48 billion. The agreement was previously announced on July 29, 2025.

Approximately $800 million of the proceeds will be used to pay down debt at Piedmont Natural Gas to maintain its capital structure. The remaining $1.5 billion proceeds, net of tax, will help efficiently fund the industry's largest regulated capital plan – $103 billion of investments over the next five years – to support a growing system and serve increasing load while keeping customer costs as low as possible.

"Today marks a significant milestone with the successful transition of our Tennessee natural gas business to Spire," said Harry Sideris, Duke Energy president and chief executive officer. "As we enter a period of record investment, this transaction helps efficiently fund our capital plan – a plan built on safely and reliably meeting our communities' growing energy needs while managing costs for our more than 10 million customers."

Sideris added, "I want to thank our Tennessee natural gas teammates for their commitment to industry-leading customer service, safety and operational excellence, as well as the Nashville community for trusting us to serve its growing energy needs for more than 40 years. Spire will carry forward best-in-class service and continue delivering value for Tennessee employees, customers and communities." 

"We're pleased to welcome Piedmont customers and employees in Tennessee to Spire," said Scott Doyle, president and chief executive officer of Spire. "This acquisition allows us to expand our core utility business while continuing to do what we do best as a company – safely delivering reliable natural gas to the communities we serve."

The sale agreement for the Piedmont Natural Gas Tennessee business included nearly 3,800 miles of distribution and transmission pipelines serving more than 200,000 customers. The primary operations will remain in the Greater Nashville area, and the Piedmont Natural Gas employees who primarily support the business have transitioned to Spire to maintain business continuity for its operations and customers.

JP Morgan Securities LLC and RBC Capital Markets LLC served as Duke Energy's financial advisors. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP served as Duke Energy's transactional legal advisor. In addition, Duke Energy received legal support on certain matters from Holland & Knight. McGuireWoods acted as joint regulatory counsel for both Duke Energy and Spire.

Duke Energy

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America's largest energy holding companies. The company's electric utilities serve 8.7 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 55,700 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas utilities serve 1.6 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio and Kentucky.

Duke Energy is executing an energy modernization strategy, keeping customer value at the forefront as it invests in electric grid upgrades and efficient generation resources to strengthen the system and serve growing energy needs.

More information is available at duke-energy.com. Follow Duke Energy on X, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook for stories about the people and innovations powering its communities.

Piedmont Natural Gas

Piedmont Natural Gas, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, distributes natural gas to more than 1 million residential, commercial, industrial and power generation customers in North Carolina and South Carolina. More information: piedmontng.com. Follow Piedmont Natural Gas: Facebook.

Spire

Spire Inc. (NYSE: SR) believes energy exists to help make people's lives better. It's a simple idea, but one that's at the heart of Spire's company. Every day Spire serves close to 2 million homes and businesses, making it one of the largest publicly traded natural gas companies in the country. Spire helps families and business owners fuel their daily lives through its gas utilities serving Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee. Its natural gas-related businesses include Spire Marketing and Spire Midstream. Spire is committed to transforming its business through growing organically, investing in infrastructure, and driving continuous improvement. Learn more at SpireEnergy.com.

Forward-Looking Information

This document includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements are based on management's beliefs and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by terms and phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "intend," "estimate," "expect," "continue," "should," "could," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "will," "potential," "forecast," "target," "outlook," "guidance," and similar expressions. Various factors may cause actual results to be materially different than the suggested outcomes within forward-looking statements; accordingly, there is no assurance that such results will be realized. These risks and uncertainties are identified and discussed in Duke Energy's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, and subsequent quarterly reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and available at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the events described in the forward-looking statements might not occur or might occur to a different extent or at a different time than Duke Energy has described. Duke Energy expressly disclaims an obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Media Contact: Gillian Moore
24-hour: 800.559.3853

Analyst Contact: Mike Switzer
Office: 704.382.6473

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SOURCE Duke Energy

FAQ

What did Spire (NYSE: SR) pay for Duke Energy's Tennessee Piedmont Natural Gas business on March 31, 2026?

Spire paid $2.48 billion to acquire the Tennessee Piedmont Natural Gas business. According to Duke Energy, the transaction closed March 31, 2026, and includes pipelines and customer accounts transferred to Spire.

How will the $2.48 billion sale to Spire impact Duke Energy's capital plan funding?

Duke will direct $1.5 billion (net of tax) toward its regulated capital plan. According to Duke Energy, proceeds support a $103 billion five-year investment program to serve growing load.

How much of the proceeds from the Spire (SR) acquisition will pay down debt at Piedmont?

$800 million of the sale proceeds will be used to pay down Piedmont Natural Gas debt. According to Duke Energy, this maintains Piedmont's capital structure before the remaining proceeds fund investments.

What assets and customers are included in Spire's purchase of Piedmont Tennessee from Duke Energy?

The sale includes nearly 3,800 miles of distribution and transmission pipelines and over 200,000 customers. According to Duke Energy, primary operations remain in Greater Nashville with employees transitioning to Spire.

What does the Spire (SR) acquisition mean for Tennessee Piedmont Natural Gas employees and customers?

Piedmont employees supporting the Tennessee business have transitioned to Spire to maintain continuity. According to Duke Energy, Spire will operate the system and serve customers with existing operations in Nashville.