This is a press release courtesy of NW Natural

Northwest Natural Gas Company, dba NW Natural (NYSE:NWN) received approval Tuesday from the Public Utility Commission of Oregon (OPUC) to decrease rates for the 2009-2010 season by 16 percent.

"This decrease is even lower than the initial filing in August because we were able to lock in additional cost savings over the last two months," said Randy Friedman, NW Natural Director of Gas Supply.

The new rates go into effect November 1, 2009.

Once the new rates are in place, an average Oregon residential customer using 55 therms per month will see a decrease in their monthly bills of about $13. An average commercial customer will see a 19 percent decrease, and industrial firm customers will see a rate decrease of 31 percent.

The company has also filed for a 22 percent rate decrease in Washington which will be reviewed by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC) this Thursday, Oct. 29.

NW Natural passes wholesale natural gas costs directly through to customers with no markup.