NW Natural served more than 652,000 customers at the end of 2007, adding customers at a rate significantly higher than the national average. Approximately 90 percent of the company's customers are in Oregon, with the remainder in Washington state.

In keeping with its steady growth, NW Natural has increased annual dividends paid to shareholders every year for 52 consecutive years. The company earned $74.5 million or $2.76 per share in 2007, driven by strong utility results, commodity cost sharing and higher earnings from gas storage operations.

In addition to serving its utility customers, the company operates a 16 billion cubic foot gas storage facility in Northwestern Oregon -- primarily for its core utility customers -- as well as to serve the regional interstate market. The company is also proposing to build a gas storage facility near Fresno, California, and a gas transmission pipeline in Oregon to add to future growth potential.

The company is also unique from a regulatory perspective, and received renewal of its conservation and weather adjustment tariffs in Oregon until 2012. The company's decoupling mechanism further helps stabilize margin revenues while better aligning the utility's financial interests with customers who elect to conserve energy. As a result, NW Natural's regulatory mechanisms help to protect revenues from warmer than average weather and declining consumption, without penalizing investors, providing reliable earnings growth. The company's stated aim is to target long-term earnings per share growth of 5 percent or more and to maintain a dividend payout ratio of 60-70 percent. The company has a current indicative annual dividend of $1.50 per share. Over the past five years, NW Natural has provided an attractive total shareholder return (dividends plus stock price appreciation) of more than 130 percent.