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Member ProfilePhotos courtesy of NW NaturalOn January 7th, NW Natural celebrated its 150th birthday.In 1859, about five weeks before Oregon became a state,the company’s founders received a “perpetual franchise”from the territorial government to serve gas customers.When Portland Gas Light Co., the original gas company, firststarted delivering gas, it had 49 customers – all using gas forlighting. Today, NW Natural serves more than 662,000 customersfor space and water heating and a variety of industrial processes.Nearly 87,000 of those customers are in the Mid-WillametteValley and served by the Salem office. Of those, about 8,500 arebusinesses and industries. The company has provided gas to theSalem area for close to 80 years.Over time, the gas company has changed products – and names.The original Portland Gas Light Co. manufactured gas from coal.In 1956, the first natural gas pipeline reached Oregon andthe Willamette Valley. This transformed the company froma manufacturing organization to a service provider. With itshigh energy value, natural gas became as valuable for industrialprocessing as it was to residents, who appreciated its comfortand convenience. Another name change, this time to NorthwestNatural Gas, followed the first natural gas pipeline.Today, NW Natural counts among its customers many of theWillamette Valley’s major business and industry groups, includingwood products manufacturers, food processors, nurseries and hightechnology firms.In addition, the company is a leader in energy-efficiency, with aninnovative rate mechanism that allows it to encourage conservationamong its customers without harming its shareholders. In 2007, itintroduced Smart Energy , becoming the first stand-alone gasutility in the nation to offer customers a carbon offset program.NW Natural also has entered a partnership with TransCanadaCorporation to build a new pipeline. Oregon is one of a fewstates in the nation to have its major populated areas served bya single interstate pipeline. The eastern portion of the Palomarpipeline will strengthen service reliability to the company’scustomers by providing a second gas transportation route into theWillamette Valley. This section would also bring in additionaldomestic supplies from the Rocky Mountains.We at NW Natural like to say, “We grew up here.” By that, wemean, we value our Oregon roots and feel responsible to thecommunities we serve. Thanks to SEDCOR and the Salemcommunity for being our partner in regional growth.Gaslight Saloon.Delivering Briquetts for heating and cooling - 1910.SEDCOR Member Since: 1983Address:3123 Broadway Street NE,Salem, OR 97303Website: www.nwnatural.comBusiness Description:Natural gas utilityBusiness History: An Oregonbasedcompany since 1859What is Most Challenging inBusiness: Keeping gas pricesaffordable in the face ofrising commodity costsSwitching Equipment forNatural Gas - 1956.SEDCOR Involvement:SEDCOR plays a critical role on economic developmentefforts in the Mid-Willamette Valley and is an importantorganization that NW Natural has supported formany years. We work with SEDCOR staff on businessdevelopment proposals, we’ve been active on committeesand the Board of Directors (Bruce Anderson was justre-elected to the board), we provide food and our cateringcrew for the SEDCOR industrial site tours, and wehave sponsored and supported many of SEDCOR’s keyevents (such as the Annual Gala and the SEDCOR GolfTournament).www.sedcor.comPage 23