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Segment Information
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 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, 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 third-party asset management services 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: NW Natural Water Company, LLC (NW Natural Water or 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; NW Natural 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 (NW Natural Renewables) 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 September 30,
In thousandsNGDOther
(NW Natural)		NW NaturalOther
(NW Holdings)		NW Holdings
2023
Operating revenues$124,624 $5,318 $129,942 $11,537 $141,479 
Depreciation28,169 277 28,446 1,615 30,061 
Income (loss) from operations(22,192)3,777 (18,415)838 (17,577)
Net income (loss)(24,160)2,673 (21,487)(2,200)(23,687)
Capital expenditures86,017 1,053 87,070 10,814 97,884 
2022
Operating revenues$103,295 $7,131 $110,426 $6,413 $116,839 
Depreciation27,937 264 28,201 825 29,026 
Income (loss) from operations(20,910)5,616 (15,294)367 (14,927)
Net income (loss)(23,016)4,210 (18,806)(781)(19,587)
Capital expenditures79,847 431 80,278 3,868 84,146 
Nine Months Ended September 30,
In thousandsNGDOther
(NW Natural)		NW NaturalOther
(NW Holdings)		NW Holdings
2023
Operating revenues$796,108 $16,695 $812,803 $28,958 $841,761 
Depreciation87,650 820 88,470 4,349 92,819 
Income (loss) from operations97,357 11,658 109,015 759 109,774 
Net income (loss)47,520 8,317 55,837 (6,609)49,228 
Capital expenditures214,874 1,494 216,368 26,379 242,747 
Total assets at September 30, 20234,285,309 52,894 4,338,203 326,915 4,665,118 
2022
Operating revenues$629,327 $17,974 $647,301 $14,799 $662,100 
Depreciation82,372 794 83,166 2,399 85,565 
Income (loss) from operations75,328 12,054 87,382 (1,132)86,250 
Net income (loss)32,531 8,812 41,343 (2,976)38,367 
Capital expenditures235,249 1,218 236,467 15,375 251,842 
Total assets at September 30, 20223,968,040 56,712 4,024,752 275,960 4,300,712 
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 September 30,Nine Months Ended September 30,
In thousands2023202220232022
NGD margin calculation:
NGD distribution revenues$119,892 $98,391 $781,941 $614,605 
Other regulated services4,732 4,904 14,167 14,722 
Total NGD operating revenues124,624 103,295 796,108 629,327 
Less: NGD cost of gas49,235 36,258 357,530 261,678 
          Environmental remediation1,032 975 8,547 7,945 
 Revenue taxes5,425 4,375 33,559 25,907 
NGD margin$68,932 $61,687 $396,472 $333,797