What does sustainability mean for NW Natural?

We approach sustainability from several different angles. We think about sustaining the company long term – for the benefit of our customers, employees, shareholders and local communities. For example, over the last 24 months we restructured our operations to be more efficient and more competitive, so we can remain a healthy company for many years into the future.

We also think about sustainability the way it’s more commonly used today, in the sense of preserving resources for future generations.

In that regard we have to use natural gas wisely, so that it can remain affordable and accessible for our customers to heat their homes and to fuel the Northwest’s economy. As a company, we’re also committed to using and throwing away less paper, using less fuel and reducing emissions in all our operations.

Here at NW Natural, we started the Smart Energy carbon emissions offset program and, under Mark Dodson’s leadership, we’re helping the national gas industry take on issues related to climate change.

We are focused on making sure this company can compete for another 150 years. We are also mindful that we’re stewards of valuable natural gas supplies, and we want to ensure this resource is used efficiently. Finally, we want to make sure adequate gas storage and pipelines are in place so that as the nation becomes more aggressive about addressing climate change, natural gas is available for direct use by consumers, and for power generation.

What were the main accomplishments of NW Natural’s utility operations in 2007?

We made great advances toward implementing the new operating model we described in last year’s annual report. We’ve reorganized our work along process lines, centralized many work groups, and standardized more of our daily tasks and procedures. We outsourced functions that aren’t central to the gas business and improved the remaining processes to provide better customer service.

We also began to move our business processes into a unified software system. On Jan. 7 of this year, we completed the first phase of this effort, converting our accounting and purchasing processes to this new system.

Today we are operating more efficiently and effectively, and we are providing our customers better service than we were just a year ago. In 2008, the focus on improving our operations will continue with the addition of even more technology.

With a new integrated work management system, vehicle locating devices and new computers in our trucks, we’ll be able to respond more quickly to customer and emergency calls. We’ll also be able to dispatch employees and equipment more efficiently system wide, eliminating artificial boundaries between resource centers.

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