PERSEVERANCE AND PROGRESS 2020 ANNUAL REPORT SHAREHOLDER LETTER President and CEO David H. Anderson at company headquarters. To Our Shareholders Years come and go, but 2020 is unforgettable. The assistance, voluntarily suspended disconnections COVID-19 pandemic spread across the globe and IRUQRQSD\PHQWVGRQDWHGWRQRQSURƓWVKHOSLQJ immediately affected all of our daily lives. While people impacted by COVID-19, and kept our many things changed, I’m incredibly proud of the workforce safe and supported during unprec- way the NW Natural team pulled together to make edented challenges. sure one thing didn’t—providing our customers with essential services safely and reliably. At the same time, we continued to look ahead and execute on key long-term priorities, laying Across our utilities, we quickly adopted new health the foundation for continued success. I’m grateful and safety protocols, implemented additional IRURXUUHVLOLHQFHDQGIRU\RXUFRQƓGHQFHLQRXU precautions, pivoted to remote working and—most company. In a year where uncertainty was the importantly—took care of customers and one only certainty, we forged ahead and made another. We offered customers bill payment important progress. “In a year where uncertainty was the only certainty, we forged ahead and made important progress.” SHAREHOLDER LETTER 2020 Highlights Net Income Reported 2020 net income from continuing operations of $70.3 million or $2.30 per share, compared to $65.3 million or $2.19 per share for 2019. Reported 2019 net income from continuing operations included a regulatory disallowance of historical pension costs of $10.5 million pre-tax. Excluding this charge, on a non-GAAP basis, net income from continuing operations was $71.9 million or $2.41 per share for 2019.1 Customer Growth Oregon Rate Case Decarbonizing Achieved an annual customer Received Oregon general On track to meet or exceed growth rate of 1.5% by adding rate case order providing our voluntary carbon savings nearly 11,600 new natural gas an estimated annual pretax goal of 30% by 2035.2 Estab- meters, bringing the people HDUQLQJVEHQHƓWRI lished our vision forward to we serve to approximately million to recover operating be a carbon neutral energy 2.5 million through more costs and necessary invest- provider by 2050. than 770,000 meters. ment for system reliability and resiliency. Water Growth Customer Service &RPSOHWHGƓYHDFTXLVLWLRQV Ranked second in the West Washington Rate Case LQFOXGLQJRXUƓUVWLQ7H[DV and in the top 10 in the nation Filed a NW Natural general DQGƓOHGWKUHHUDWHFDVHVLQ for large gas utilities in rate case in Washington Oregon, Washington and Idaho the annual J.D. Power Gas requesting a multiyear to recover investments made to Utility Residential Customer increase to revenue require- strengthen infrastructure. Satisfaction Study. PHQWRIPLOOLRQLQWKHƓUVW year and $3.2 million in the ESG Report second year to recover costs Reliability IdiIssued our inaugura l associated with investments Invested nearly $280 million Environmental, Social and for safety and reliability. in our gas utility infrastruc- Governance report, which ture system reinforcement highlights some of the projtikjects in key areas aroun d Renewables mostit impor tan t wor k we ’ re Portland, Oregon, to support Completed rulemaking on focused on in these areas. growth plus at our gas landmark Oregon Senate Bill storage facility in 98 (SB 98), which enables Dividends Mist, Oregon. us to purchase renewable Increased dividends paid for natural gas (RNG) or hydro- the 65th consecutive year, gen on behalf of customers; one of the longest records also completed a request for on the NYSE. SURSRVDODQGVLJQHGRXUƓUVW RNG investment contract before the end of 2020. 1 See Financial Overview on page 10 for non-GAAP reconciliation. 2 This is a voluntary emissions savings goal equivalent to 30% of the carbon emissions from our sales customers gas use and company operations from 2015. &RUSRUDWH3URƓOH NW NATURAL HOLDINGS (NYSE: NWN) is headquartered in Portland, Oregon, and owns a regulated natural gas distribution company, NW Natural, water and wastewater utilities through its subsidiary, NW Natural Water, and other business interests and activities. 3 NW Natural Customer Field Service Technician Greg Gonzales in Portland. 2020 Event Responses In the face of ongoing challenges during 2020, our values guided our decisions as they always have, and we maintained an unwavering focus on the health and safety of our employees, customers and the communities we serve. COVID-19 Pandemic where someone with a known or suspected case of COVID-19 is SUHVHQW)RUPRVWRIƓFHHPSOR\HHVZHLPSOHPHQWHGZRUNIURP Throughout the pandemic, as essential home plans that remain in place as we take a measured approach service providers, our gas and water utilities to reopening our headquarters and operations center. By following continued to serve customers without these stringent health guidelines, fewer than 2% of our employees LQWHUUXSWLRQ1:1DWXUDOKDVDZHOOGHƓQHG tested positive for COVID-19 in 2020, all of whom have recovered. emergency response command structure and protocols. To respond to the virus, we In March of last year, we voluntarily stopped charging late fees mobilized our Incident Command Team and and disconnecting customers for nonpayment. We continue to business continuity plans in early March, RIIHUƔH[LEOHSD\PHQWRSWLRQVWDLORUHGWRWKHFXVWRPHUċVVSHFLƓF formalized and initiated these procedures at situation and provide assistance to help customers pay their bills. our water utilities, and continue to operate under these structures and protocols for We also worked closely with utility regulators to determine a the duration of the pandemic. process and schedule to resume normal business practices. 5HJXODWRUVDSSURYHGDFFRXQWLQJGHIHUUDOVIRUFHUWDLQƓQDQFLDO (PSOR\HHVZKRZRUNLQWKHƓHOGIROORZ impacts from COVID-19, and management implemented short- &'&26+$DQGVWDWHVSHFLƓFJXLGDQFH WHUPFRVWVDYLQJVLQLWLDWLYHVWRIXUWKHUPLWLJDWHWKHƓQDQFLDO for personal protective equipment, social impacts of the virus. distancing, sanitizing protocols and other measures to mitigate the spread of the virus. We also created a NW Natural :HVWHUQ:LOGƓUHV COVID-19 response team with special ,Q6HSWHPEHUZLOGƓUHVVWUXFNWKH:HVW&RDVW1:1DWXUDOċV training and equipment to work in homes ,QFLGHQW&RPPDQG7HDPUHVSRQGHGTXLFNO\PRQLWRULQJWKHƓUHV 4 SHAREHOLDER LETTER developing system shutdown plans to ensure safety, and coordinating Oregon communities to ensure we can with county and state emergency managers. Our natural gas continue serving these growing areas well system is designed to allow us to isolate and depressurize sections into the future. We also completed a large when conditions require. We worked to stay ahead of the moving dehydration project at our storage facility ƓUHVDQGVKXWGRZQVHFWLRQVRIWKHV\VWHPDVQHHGHG2QFH in Mist, Oregon, which supports reliable WKHƓUHVZHUHFRQWUROOHGDQGFRQGLWLRQVZHUHVDIHRXUFUHZV service on the coldest winter days. re-energized the system and relit about 2,500 customers. CAPITAL EXPENDITURES Hood River Service Restoration (in millions) In late December 2020, NW Natural restored service to customers in Hood River, Oregon, and White Salmon, Washington, after the largest outage the company experienced in 65 years. Service was disrupted to about 5,500 customers when a vehicle crashed into a Williams Northwest Pipeline facility that delivers gas to NW Natural’s system. To respond as quickly as possible, we enlisted help from utilities in several states through a mutual assistance agreement. Social Justice In 2020, we were reminded that we still have a long way to go to achieve social justice in our nation, our communities and our workplaces. As a company, we have stated publicly that we do not tolerate racism in any form. For over 20 years, NW Natural has 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 actively implemented an agenda focused on diversity, equity and inclusion through initiatives within our workplace, by supporting and participating in wider community diversity initiatives, and Total investment in capital expenditures during 2020 by expanding our spending with businesses owned by women, was $278 million on an accrual basis. veterans, disabled, economically disadvantaged and minorities. We’re focused on continuous improvement as we build an increas- Our goal is to meet or exceed federal ingly diverse workforce across all levels in our organization, strive and state pipeline safety regulations. Our to ensure equity in pay and development opportunities, and work to transmission system is inspected using a foster a culture where all voices are heard and respected. combination of technologically advanced inline inspection tools and direct assess- ments. Our modern system makes it possible to perform most inspections NW Natural–Natural Gas Utility through inline methods. At the end of 2020, we had inspected about three Safety Is Our Highest Priority times the amount required. Safety is our greatest responsibility to our customers, our employees and the communities we serve. Our employees perform approxi- PDWHO\URXWLQHƓHOGYLVLWVHDFK\HDUDQGZHRSHUDWHD 2020 FEDERAL REPORTS 24/7 emergency hotline so we can immediately dispatch nearby responders to damage and odor calls. In 2020, we launched our Journey to Zero program to reduce employee injuries. We ended the year with the lowest number of workplace injuries in over a decade, our injury rate decreased by over 40%, and our lost-time injury rate decreased by about 75% compared to 2019. • Reportable pipeline incidents We also operate one of the most