Proposed 6% revenue increase supports safety and service areas
PORTLAND, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Northwest Natural Gas Company, dba NW Natural (NYSE:NWN), today
announced that for the first time since 2002, the company has filed for
a general rate increase with the Public Utility Commission of Oregon
(OPUC).
If approved as filed, the request would result in an overall revenue
increase of about 6 percent, or $43.7 million. Under this proposal, a
residential customer using 54 therms per month would see an average
monthly bill increase of about $5 (or 8 percent). A commercial customer
using 221 therms a month would see an average monthly bill increase of
about $13 (or 6 percent).
The request addresses higher costs associated with maintaining and
operating the company’s pipeline system and serving customers, as well
as employee pension and other benefit costs. The request will not affect
customer bills this winter.
“Over the last nine years, we’ve streamlined our operations and kept
increases in our costs to serve customers well below the inflation rate
– and well below most of our peers,” said Gregg Kantor, NW Natural
President and CEO. “Because of our cost control efforts and lower
natural gas prices, even with this rate increase in place customers will
be paying less for gas service than they did in 2005. We have managed
our business well and done all we can to delay this filing.”
The proposed increase supports the following operational areas:
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Pipeline and system safety. A portion of customer rates pay for
inspections; maintenance and repairs; incident response staff; and
training to keep the company’s system as safe as possible. NW Natural
has been aggressive in these areas and continues to add necessary
personnel to meet or exceed all federal safety regulations.
-
Shorter service windows. When customers call to request a service
appointment, the company has been able to tell them what day – but not
what time – the technician will arrive. By hiring more technicians, NW
Natural can reduce the appointment window time to morning or afternoon.
Separate from the revenue increase request, the company is also
proposing a mechanism to address clean-up expenses related to legacy
manufactured gas plant operations. The proposal would collect in rates
only those costs that insurance does not cover and would do so over many
years to lessen the impact on customer bills. This mechanism could
result in an additional 1 to 3 percent increase, depending on insurance
recovery collections and clean-up project costs that occur between now
and the date new rates take effect.
Forward-looking Statements
This release, and other presentations made by NW Natural from time to
time, may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the
U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking
statements can be identified by words such as “anticipates,” “intends,”
“plans,” “seeks,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects” and similar
references to future periods. Examples of forward-looking statements
include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the following:
plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events, commodity costs,
weather, customer growth, customer rates, regulatory rules, actions,
approvals or outcomes, earnings or revenue expectations, expected
dividend payout ratios, and other statements that are other than
statements of historical facts.
Forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and
assumptions regarding our business, the economy and other future
conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future,
they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in
circumstances that are difficult to predict. Our actual results may
differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking
statements. We caution you therefore against relying on any of these
forward-looking statements. They are neither statements of historical
fact nor guarantees or assurances of future performance. Important
factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
in the forward-looking statements are discussed by reference to the
factors described in Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors”, and Part II, Item 7
and Item 7A “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition
and Results of Operations” and “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosure
about Market Risk” in NW Natural’s most recent Annual Report on Form
10-K and in Part I, Items 2 and 3 “Management’s Discussion and Analysis
of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Quantitative and
Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk”, and Part II, Item 1A “Risk
Factors”, in NW Natural’s quarterly reports filed thereafter.
About NW Natural
NW Natural (NYSE:NWN) is headquartered in Portland, Ore., and provides
natural gas service to about 672,000 residential, commercial, and
industrial customers through 14,000 miles of mains and service lines in
western Oregon and southwestern Washington. It is the largest
independent natural gas utility in the Pacific Northwest. The company
has approximately $2.6 billion in total assets. The company operates and
owns 16 Bcf of underground storage capacity in Mist, Ore., and also
operates the designed 20 Bcf Gill Ranch underground storage facility in
California, in which it owns a 75 percent undivided interest. Together,
NW Natural and its subsidiaries currently own and operate underground
gas storage facilities with designed storage capacity of approximately
31 Bcf in Oregon and California. Additional information is available at www.nwnatural.com.
NW Natural
Media Contact:
Kim Heiting, 503-220-2366
Pager:
503-818-9845
kah@nwnatural.com
or
Investor
Contact:
Bob Hess, 503-220-2388
Bob.hess@nwnatural.com
Source: Northwest Natural Gas Company