Exhibit 99.2
PRESS RELEASE
January 20, 2004

                        PIEDMONT NATURAL GAS CLOSES SALE
                              OF PROPANE INTERESTS

CHARLOTTE - Piedmont Natural Gas (NYSE: PNY) today announced that it and three
other utility partners have completed the sale of their interests in the general
partnership and limited partnerships in Heritage Propane Partners, L.P. for $130
million. The sale, part of a larger transaction that involved the merging of
privately held Energy Transfer Company with Heritage Propane Partners, was
previously announced in November 2003. Piedmont Natural Gas will receive
approximately $26.9 million from the transaction, and estimates that it will
realize a one-time gain on the transaction of approximately $.03 to $.05 per
diluted share in fiscal 2004.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT
This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements are
based on management's current expectations and information currently available
and are believed to be reasonable and are made in good faith. However, the
forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the
statements. Factors that may make the actual results differ from anticipated
results include, but are not limited to, economic conditions; competition from
other providers of similar products; and other uncertainties, all of which are
difficult to predict and some of which are beyond our control. For these
reasons, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements when making
investment decisions. The words "expect," "believe," "project," "anticipate,"
"intend," "should," "could", "will" and variations of such words and similar
expressions, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. We do not
undertake any obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement,
either as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. More
information about the risks and uncertainties relating to these forward-looking
statements may be found in Piedmont's filings with the SEC on Forms 10-K and
Forms 10-Q, which are available on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov.


ABOUT PIEDMONT NATURAL GAS
Piedmont Natural Gas is an energy services company primarily engaged in the
distribution of natural gas to 940,000 residential, commercial and industrial
utility customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, including
60,000 customers served by municipalities who are wholesale customers. Our
subsidiaries are invested in joint venture, energy-related businesses, including
unregulated retail natural gas marketing, interstate natural gas storage,
intrastate transportation and regulated natural gas distribution. More
information about Piedmont Natural Gas is available on the Internet at
www.piedmontng.com.

CONTACTS:
PIEDMONT NATURAL GAS
Corporate Communications, Steve Conner, 704.731.4205
Investor Relations, Headen Thomas, 704.731.4438