ODOE’s County Profiles Provide Snapshot of Energy Use and Trends in Oregon
Section of Harney County profile.
In the Oregon Department of Energy’s 2018 Biennial Energy Report, we included a chapter on protecting consumers – and identified the need for a better understanding of the distribution of benefits and burdens of electricity, heating, and transportation programs and costs for Oregonians. That year, we provided pie charts illustrating the share of each county’s typical home heating resources such as natural gas, electricity, wood, and propane.
Household energy use includes more than heating and illuminating our homes, of course. For many Oregonians their energy use includes several desktop computers stations, TVs in common areas and bedrooms, numerous appliances, and charging ports for our hand-held devices. We can also add fuel and maintenance for our daily travel to the list of items that require energy.
Continuing with ODOE’s commitment to sharing Oregon’s best available energy data, the online 2020 Biennial Energy Report expanded the data to include more county-by-county information on demographics, housing, and energy and transportation use and costs. By diving into layers of energy costs and burden to these communities, we provide a look into the economic and affordability challenges facing Oregon households throughout the state. For example, the profiles provide insight into typical area income paired with household energy use costs, transportation costs, homeownership vs. rental trends, average vehicle miles traveled per year, and others. These attributes can be key energy indicators of how energy affects public health, economic stability, and quality of life for our most vulnerable communities.
Energy use contributes to a household’s total annual energy burden. An Oregonian is considered “energy burdened” when their household’s energy-related expenditures exceed 6 percent of their household income. To understand the relationship between poverty and energy burden better, each profile includes the county’s Annual Energy Burden Gap. This is the amount needed to reduce energy costs to 6 percent of household income for an Oregon household below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. In 2019, Oregon’s total energy affordability gap was estimated to be over $289 million per year, or eight times the federal funding Oregon receives for energy assistance. Examining these economic factors and their geographic relationships can help inform policies and pathways to achieve state environmental and climate change policy objectives while addressing energy burden and equity issues.
We encourage you to learn about your county’s energy usage, as well as those around you, and see how it relates to your energy story.
Data is current as of November 2020.