An affiliate of ArcLight Capital Partners LLC will acquire a 9.9% stake in OGE Energy Corp.‘s Enogex midstream gas pipeline subsidiary, OGE Energy said. OGE Energy will contribute its marketing business, OGE Energy Resources Inc., to Enogex. ArcLight, a private equity firm based in Boston, has agreed to pay OGE Energy $183 million. The transaction is expected to be completed by Nov. 1 and will enable ArcLight to increase its stake over time. “As emerging natural gas resource plays continue to be developed, they are creating significant midstream infrastructure opportunities,” said Robb Turner, co-founder of ArcLight Capital Partners. “Enogex has substantial organic growth opportunities around its strategically located Midcontinent operations.”

Portland, OR-based Northwest Natural Gas Co. announced last Friday it has earned the highest individual utility customer service overall score from the J.D. Power and Associates Gas Utility Residential Customer Study. It achieved the highest ranking for the West and for the nation overall. Now in its ninth year, the J.D. Power assessment measures residential customer satisfaction among 75 gas-only and combination utilities nationwide across six factors — billing and payment; price; corporate citizenship; communications; customer service; and field service. Increases in satisfaction are largely driven by improvements in the areas of communications, price and corporate citizenship. Earlier in the year Northwest Natural also received top ratings from business customers in the West region of J.D. Power’s 2010 study in the gas utility space. “We couldn’t be more pleased, and we pledge to continue to work hard to exceed their expectations,” said CEO Gregg Kantor.

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