Duke Energy's ambitious growth strategy takes a new turn as the company looks to streamline its operations and redirect billions towards future investments.

Duke Energy said on Tuesday it would sell its Tennessee natural gas distribution business to Spire for $2.48 billion in cash, as the utility aims to streamline operations and unlock capital to invest in electric grid upgrades.

Duke Energy predicts that in the next 15 years, Carolina customers’ annual electric use will increase by about 58,000 gigawatt-hours. The utility said that amount of energy is higher than the combined annual electric consumption of Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire and Wyoming.