NWN

Northwest Natural Gas Company

General

Northwest Natural Gas Company (NW Natural) was incorporated under the laws of Oregon in 1910. Our company and its predecessors have supplied gas service to the public since 1859, and we have been doing business as NW Natural since September 1997. We maintain operations in Oregon, Washington and California and conduct business through NW Natural, wholly-owned subsidiaries and a joint venture.
Business Segments

We operate in two primary reportable business segments, Local Gas Distribution and Gas Storage. We also have other investments and business activities not specifically related to one of these two reporting segments that we aggregate and report as Other.

Local Gas Distribution

We are principally engaged in the distribution of natural gas in Oregon and southwest Washington. We refer to this business segment as our local gas distribution segment or utility. Our local gas distribution segment involves building and maintaining a safe and reliable pipeline distribution system, purchasing gas from producers and marketers, contracting for the transportation of gas over pipelines from regional supply basins to our service territory, and reselling the gas to customers subject to rates and terms approved by the Oregon Public Utility Commission (OPUC) or by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC). Gas distribution also includes transporting gas owned by large customers from the interstate pipeline connection, or city gate, to the customers’ facilities for a fee, also approved by the OPUC or WUTC. Approximately 92 percent of our consolidated assets at December 31, 2009, and 88 percent of our consolidated net income in 2009, were related to the local gas distribution segment. The OPUC has allocated to us as our exclusive service area a major portion of western Oregon, including the Portland metropolitan area, most of the Willamette Valley and the coastal area from Astoria to Coos Bay. We also hold certificates from the WUTC granting us exclusive rights to serve portions of three southwest Washington counties bordering the Columbia River. We provide gas service in 124 cities and neighboring communities in 15 Oregon counties, as well as in 16 cities and neighboring communities in three Washington counties. The city of Portland is the principal retail and manufacturing center in the Columbia River Basin, and is a major port for trade with Asia.

At year-end 2009, we had approximately 668,000 total utility customers, consisting of approximately 605,000 residential, 62,000 commercial and 1,000 industrial sales and transportation customers. Approximately 90 percent of our utility customers are located in Oregon and 10 percent are in Washington. Industries we serve include: pulp, paper and other forest products; the manufacture of electronic, electrochemical and electrometallurgical products; the processing of farm and food products; the production of various mineral products; metal fabrication and casting; the production of machine tools, machinery and textiles; the manufacture of asphalt, concrete and rubber; printing and publishing; nurseries; government and educational institutions; and electric generation. No individual utility customer or industry accounts for a significant portion of our revenues.

Utility Gas Supply, Storage and Transportation Capacity

We meet the expected needs of our core utility customers through natural gas purchases from a variety of suppliers. Our supply and capacity plan is based on forecasted customer requirements and takes into account estimated load growth by type of customer, attrition, conservation, distribution system constraints, interstate pipeline capacity and contractual limitations and the forecasted transfer of large customers between sales service and transportation-only service. We perform sensitivity analyses based on factors such as weather variations and price elasticity effects. We have a diverse portfolio of short-, medium- and long-term firm gas supply contracts that are supplemented during periods of peak demand with gas from storage facilities either owned by or contractually committed to us.

Other

We have non-utility investments and other business activities which are aggregated and reported as a business segment called “Other.” Although in the aggregate these investments and activities are not material, we identify and report them as a stand-alone segment based on our current organization structure and decision-making process and because these business investments and activities are not specifically related to our utility or gas storage segments. This segment primarily consists of an equity method investment in a joint venture to build and operate an interstate gas transmission pipeline in Oregon and pipeline assets in our wholly-owned NNG Financial Corporation, as well as some operating and non-operating expenses of the parent company that cannot be charged to utility operations. Approximately 1 percent of our consolidated assets and consolidated net income are related to activities in the “Other” business segment.

Employees

At December 31, 2009, our workforce consisted of 646 members of the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU), Local No. 11, AFL-CIO, and 415 management level and other non-union employees. Our labor agreement with members of OPEIU that covers wages, benefits and working conditions extends to May 31, 2014, and thereafter from year to year unless either party serves notice of its intent to negotiate modifications to the collective union agreement.