NW Natural history

By 1868, Portland Gas Light Co. was responsible for keeping the water hot in the boilers of Portland's horse-drawn, steam fire engines--the first recorded use of local gas for a purpose other than lighting.

The gas business was sold to bankers C.F. Adams and Abbot Low Mills in August 1892 for a reported $850,000.

Service halted briefly when the record 1894 flood ripped out the underwater crossing, but the company soon rebuilt its manufacturing facilities above the high water mark.

California oil became cheaper than coal; so, in 1906, the company began a plant changeover.

By 1910, there were 332 miles of mains serving about ten city districts, and the company incorporated as Portland Gas & Coke Co.

In 1913, the company was sold to the American Power & Light Company for $3.5 million and was renamed the Portland Gas and Coke Company.

In 1949, American Power & Light sold off its holdings in Portland Gas & Coke.

The company soon thereafter enjoyed renewed development once natural gas arrived from the southwest in 1956 and 15 months later from British Columbia.

In 1958, the company changed its name to Northwest Natural Gas Company.

1969: The company builds its first liquefied natural gas storage tank.

In a push to explore new technologies, Northwest Natural also formed Northwest Geothermal Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary devoted to exploring and developing geothermal sources of energy in western Oregon, in 1978.

1979: Northwest Natural Gas undertakes its largest expansion in eight years, adding 450 miles of pipeline to its 11,000-mile system.

Its fiscal 1981 revenues were $358 million with net income of $17 million.

Northwest Natural also instituted sweeping interdepartmental reorganization in late 1989, a labor-management partnership called the Joint Accord, that legislated employment security--no layoffs for employees hired prior to the accord--in return for performance-based pay increases.

1990: Through subsidiary Canor Energy Ltd., company begins purchasing gas and oil properties in Canada, adding to its properties in Oregon, Wyoming, and California.

In 1999, it enjoyed its tenth consecutive year of customer growth greater than 4 percent, while the average growth for natural gas distributors had dropped to 1.5 percent.

By the year 2000, with more than 500,000 customers, Northwest Natural was earning $50.22 million on revenues of $532 million.

NW Natural attempted to purchase Portland General Electric, a Portland-based electricity utility, for nearly $3 billion beginning in October 2001 from Enron.

Due to issues including the bankruptcy of PGE parent Enron, the proposed merger was abandoned in May 2002.

On January 17, 2003, the board of directors of NW Natural Gas Co., dba NW Natural, announced the creation of a charitable fund at the Oregon Community Foundation to honor retiring Chief Executive Officer Richard G. Reiten.

In 2005, the company began removing tar from the site of a former plant that had polluted the Willamette River and were later fined for actions related to that clean-up.

In 2007, NW Natural announced plans to construct a new pipeline for delivery of natural gas, and announced a rate cut for the first time in six years.