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Segment Information
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2023
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 segment, 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 in Oregon, NWN Gas Reserves, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Energy Corp, and NW Natural RNG Holding Company, LLC, a holding company established to invest in the development and procurement of regulated renewable natural gas for NW Natural.

NW Natural
NW Natural's activities in Other include Interstate Storage Services and third-party asset management services for the Mist facility in Oregon, appliance retail center operations, and corporate operating and non-operating revenues and expenses that cannot be allocated to NGD operations.
Earnings from Interstate Storage Services assets are primarily related to firm storage capacity revenues. Earnings from the Mist facility also include revenue, net of amounts shared with NGD customers, from management of NGD assets at Mist and upstream pipeline 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 to a deferred regulatory account for crediting back to NGD customers.

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 and wastewater sector through itself and wholly-owned subsidiaries; NWN Water's equity investment in Avion Water Company, Inc.; NWN Gas Storage, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NWN Energy; other pipeline assets in NNG Financial; and NW Natural Renewables Holdings, LLC and its non-regulated renewable natural gas activities. 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.
Three Months Ended March 31,
In thousandsNGDOther
(NW Natural)		NW NaturalOther
(NW Holdings)		NW Holdings
2023
Operating revenues$447,770 $6,743 $454,513 $7,910 $462,423 
Depreciation29,858 286 30,144 1,321 31,465 
Income (loss) from operations109,159 4,969 114,128 (620)113,508 
Net income (loss)71,951 3,589 75,540 (3,869)71,671 
Capital expenditures63,642 (44)63,598 7,667 71,265 
Total assets at March 31, 20234,246,245 54,390 4,300,635 291,461 4,592,096 
2022
Operating revenues$341,398 $5,226 $346,624 $3,677 $350,301 
Depreciation27,373 264 27,637 792 28,429 
Income (loss) from operations85,663 2,888 88,551 (913)87,638 
Net income (loss)55,390 2,026 57,416 (1,177)56,239 
Capital expenditures64,280 37 64,317 4,197 68,514 
Total assets at March 31, 20223,835,222 51,598 3,886,820 167,814 4,054,634 
Total assets at December 31, 20224,392,699 60,019 4,452,718 295,608 4,748,326 

Natural Gas Distribution Margin
NGD margin is the primary 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 environmental recovery mechanisms in Oregon and Washington as well as adjustments for the Oregon 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 March 31,
In thousands20232022
NGD margin calculation:
NGD distribution revenues$443,061 $336,487 
Other regulated services4,709 4,911 
Total NGD operating revenues447,770 341,398 
Less: NGD cost of gas205,805 145,644 
          Environmental remediation5,375 4,698 
 Revenue taxes18,975 13,324 
NGD margin$217,615 $177,732