Organization and Principles of Consolidation

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Organization And Principles Of Consolidation [Abstract]

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure [Text Block]

1. ORGANIZATION AND PRINCIPLES OF CONSOLIDATION

The accompanying consolidated financial statements represent the consolidation of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NW Natural or the Company) and all companies that we directly or indirectly control, either through majority ownership or otherwise. Our direct and indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries include NW Natural Energy, LLC (NWN Energy), NW Natural Gas Storage, LLC (NWN Gas Storage), Gill Ranch Storage, LLC (Gill Ranch), and NNG Financial Corporation (NNG Financial). Investments in corporate joint ventures and partnerships that we do not directly or indirectly control, and for which we are not the primary beneficiary, are accounted for under the equity method or the cost method, which includes NWN Energy’s investment in Palomar Gas Holdings, LLC (PGH) and NNG Financial's investment in KB Pipeline. NW Natural and its affiliated companies are collectively referred to herein as NW Natural. The consolidated financial statements are presented after elimination of all significant intercompany balances and transactions, except for amounts required to be included under regulatory accounting standards to reflect the effect of such regulation. In this report, the term “utility” is used to describe our regulated gas distribution business, and the term “non-utility” is used to describe our gas storage business and other non-utility investments and business activities.

Certain prior year balances in our consolidated financial statements and notes have been reclassified to conform with the current presentation. Specifically, the consolidated statement of comprehensive income has been reorganized, and cost of gas is now included in the section for total operating expenses. Net operating revenues, which was primarily used to show profit margins from the sale of gas, is no longer presented as a subtotal in the statement of comprehensive income. These changes, including the one noted above, had no impact on our prior year’s consolidated results of operations, financial condition or cash flows.