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Segment Information
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2020
Segment Reporting [Abstract]  
Segment Information SEGMENT INFORMATION
We primarily operate in one reportable business segment, which is NW Natural's local gas distribution business and is referred to as the NGD segment. NW Natural and NW Holdings also have investments and business activities not specifically related to the NGD, which are aggregated and reported as other and described below for each entity.

Natural Gas Distribution
NW Natural's local gas distribution segment is a regulated utility principally engaged in the purchase, sale, and delivery of natural gas and related services to customers in Oregon and southwest Washington. In addition to NW Natural's local gas distribution business, the NGD segment also includes the portion of the Mist underground storage facility used to serve NGD customers, the North Mist gas storage expansion, and NWN Gas Reserves, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Energy Corp.

NW Natural
NW Natural's activities in Other include Interstate Storage Services and third-party asset management service for NW Natural’s contracted interstate pipeline and storage capacity, appliance retail center operations, and corporate operating and non-operating revenues and expenses that cannot be allocated to NGD operations.

Earnings from third party asset management include earnings from the management of upstream interstate pipeline and storage capacity when not needed to serve NGD customers. Under the Oregon sharing mechanism, NW Natural retains 80% of the pre-tax income from these services when the costs of the capacity were not included in NGD rates, or 10% of the pre-tax income when the costs have been included in these rates. The remaining 20% and 90%, respectively, are recorded in a deferred regulatory account for prospective NGD customer billing credits.

NW Holdings
NW Holdings' activities in Other include all remaining activities not associated with NW Natural, specifically: NWN Water, which consolidates the water and wastewater utility operations and is pursuing other investments in the water sector through itself and wholly-owned subsidiaries; NWN Gas Storage, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NWN Energy; NWN Energy's equity investment in TWH through August 6, 2020; and other pipeline assets in NNG Financial. For more information on the sale of TWH, see Note 13. Other also includes corporate revenues and expenses that cannot be allocated to other operations, including certain business development activities.
Segment Information Summary
Inter-segment transactions were immaterial for the periods presented. The following table presents summary financial information concerning the reportable segment and other of continuing operations. See Note 17 for information regarding discontinued operations for NW Holdings and NW Natural.
Three Months Ended September 30,
In thousandsNGDOther
(NW Natural)		NW NaturalOther
(NW Holdings)		NW Holdings
2020
Operating revenues$83,761 $4,606 $88,367 $4,917 $93,284 
Depreciation and amortization25,433 248 25,681 253 25,934 
Income (loss) from operations(16,196)2,727 (13,469)1,881 (11,588)
Net income (loss) from continuing operations(22,120)1,900 (20,220)1,543 (18,677)
Capital expenditures69,213 1,113 70,326 728 71,054 
2019
Operating revenues$83,063 $4,529 $87,592 $2,725 $90,317 
Depreciation and amortization22,830 244 23,074 301 23,375 
Income (loss) from operations(11,580)2,761 (8,819)(815)(9,634)
Net income (loss) from continuing operations(19,570)1,982 (17,588)(918)(18,506)
Capital expenditures60,596 644 61,240 606 61,846 
Nine Months Ended September 30,
In thousandsNGDOther
(NW Natural)		NW NaturalOther
(NW Holdings)		NW Holdings
2020
Operating revenues$489,240 $12,813 $502,053 $11,353 $513,406 
Depreciation and amortization74,117 740 74,857 1,588 76,445 
Income from operations65,496 6,955 72,451 1,349 73,800 
Net income from continuing operations19,476 4,771 24,247 220 24,467 
Capital expenditures186,842 1,711 188,553 4,783 193,336 
Total assets at September 30, 2020(1)
3,451,771 11,596 3,463,367 137,802 3,601,169 
2019
Operating revenues$480,088 $14,592 $494,680 $4,428 $499,108 
Depreciation and amortization66,071 750 66,821 513 67,334 
Income (loss) from operations75,975 9,090 85,065 (2,556)82,509 
Net income (loss) from continuing operations22,848 6,513 29,361 (2,398)26,963 
Capital expenditures151,114 801 151,915 1,078 152,993 
Total assets at September 30, 2019(1)
3,101,372 48,269 3,149,641 87,365 3,237,006 
Total assets at December 31, 2019(1)
3,273,835 47,652 3,321,487 91,833 3,413,320 
(1)     Total assets for NW Holdings exclude assets related to discontinued operations of $16.9 million, $14.6 million, and $15.1 million as of September 30, 2020, September 30, 2019, and December 31, 2019, respectively.

Natural Gas Distribution Margin
NGD margin is a financial measure used by the Chief Operating Decision Maker (CODM), consisting of NGD operating revenues, reduced by the associated cost of gas, environmental remediation expense, and revenue taxes. The cost of gas purchased for NGD customers is generally a pass-through cost in the amount of revenues billed to regulated NGD customers. Environmental remediation expense represents collections received from customers through the environmental recovery mechanism in Oregon as well as adjustments for the environmental earnings test when applicable. This is offset by environmental remediation expense presented in operating expenses. Revenue taxes are collected from NGD customers and remitted to taxing authorities. The collections from customers are offset by the expense recognition of the obligation to the taxing authority. By subtracting cost of gas, environmental remediation expense, and revenue taxes from NGD operating revenues, NGD margin provides a key metric used by the CODM in assessing the performance of the NGD segment.
The following table presents additional segment information concerning NGD margin:
Three Months Ended September 30,Nine Months Ended September 30,
In thousands2020201920202019
NGD margin calculation:
NGD distribution revenues$79,357 $77,916 $474,989 $472,691 
Other regulated services4,404 5,147 14,251 7,397 
Total NGD operating revenues83,761 83,063 489,240 480,088 
Less: NGD cost of gas23,797 22,659 173,657 163,335 
          Environmental remediation867 967 6,494 7,258 
 Revenue taxes3,555 3,534 19,752 19,956 
NGD margin$55,542 $55,903 $289,337 $289,539