OREGON
A6 — THE OBSERVER
SATURDAY, AUGUST 14, 2021
New census data show where state’s population grew fastest
By JAMIE GOLDBERG
The Oregonian
PORTLAND — Pop-
ulation gains in the Port-
land metro region, central
Oregon and the Willamette
Valley drove Oregon’s
growth over the last decade,
according to newly released
2020 U.S. census data.
Multnomah County’s
population grew by 10.9%
to 815,428 with the county
adding more than 80,000
residents over the last
decade, more than any other
county in the state. How-
ever, both Washington and
Clackamas counties grew at
a faster rate than Oregon’s
largest county. Washington
County’s population grew
by 13.3% to 600,372, while
Clackamas County grew by
about 12.1% to 421,401.
Josh Lehner, economist
for the Oregon Offi ce of
Economic Analysis, said
the job market, quality of
life and relative aff ord-
ability in the Portland metro
region as compared to other
major cities on the West
Coast, like San Francisco
and Seattle, continue to
make it the biggest draw for
people looking to relocate
to Oregon.
However, he said the
population gains varied
throughout the decade,
with slow growth coming
out of the Great Reces-
sion followed by six years
of increasing migration to
Oregon and the Portland
metro region, specifi cally,
Percentage change in population 2010-2020
20 or more
10 to 19.9
5 to 9.9
0 to 4.9
-4.9 to -0.1
-5.0 or less
NA
County data
Alaska
Hawaii
Puerto Rico
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
before population gains
slowed in the fi nal three
years of the decade. Oregon
added fewer than 32,000
residents in 2020 amid the
coronavirus pandemic, the
slowest growth in the last
decade.
“We’ve had so many
changes in the last 10
years,” Lehner said. “We
started the decade coming
out of the global fi nancial
crisis, and then we had an
acceleration and a big rel-
atively robust and healthy
pickup in terms of migra-
tion, and then it slowed at
the end of the decade.”
Across the state
Deschutes County,
which includes tourism hub
Bend, once again experi-
enced the biggest jump in
population of any county in
the state as its population
increased by 25.7% over the
decade to 198,253.
Damon Runberg, the
Oregon Employment
Department’s regional
economist for the East
Cascades, said the liva-
bility, natural beauty and
recreation options in cen-
tral Oregon continue to be
a draw for those looking
to relocate. He said recent
retirees and young pro-
fessionals who prioritize
quality of life over more
career opportunities have
long driven the population
gains in central Oregon.
However, in the last
decade, Runberg said more
small professional fi rms
relocated to Bend and an
increasing number of 25-
to 35-year-olds who work
remotely moved to the
Bend area, bringing their
jobs with them. The pan-
demic only accelerated that
remote working trend.
“The Bend economy
has had these major tran-
sitions in its history, from
being a timber town to
transitioning to tourism
to a lot of growth over the
last decade of more profes-
sional-type jobs, becoming
more representative of a
traditional metropolitan
economy,” Runberg said. “I
think that trend is the one
we’re going to see continue
going forward.”
Population gains across
the state were also driven by
migration to the Willamette
Valley. Polk County’s pop-
ulation increased by 16% to
87,433 over the last decade,
while Benton County
increased by 11.2% to 95,184,
Linn County increased by
10.2% to 128,610 and Marion
County increased by 9.7% to
345,920.
Polk County Commis-
sioner Craig Pope said
the county’s lower cost of
living has made it an attrac-
tive option for government
employees who work in
Salem or commuters who
need access to Interstate 5.
However, he said land use
restrictions could prevent
construction from moving
forward unabated in the
coming years, which could
slow population growth.
“We’ve become very
popular over the last
decade, at least, because
we’ve had available
building space,” Pope said.
“A large portion of that
growth has been in the
West Salem area. Folks
there are still able to be
inside the urban growth
boundary of Salem, so they
can get services, but pay
lower property taxes.”
Counties along the
Oregon coast continued to
experience modest growth
over the last decade as
well with Clatsop County
growing at the fastest rate
among coastal counties.
Its population in 2020 was
41,072, a 10.9% increase
from 2010.
Only one Oregon county
saw population decline
over the last decade with
Grant County losing
2.8% of residents. How-
ever, the population across
eastern Oregon remained
relatively fl at, with pop-
ulations in Harney, Mal-
heur and Wheeler coun-
ties increasing by 1% or
less. That mirrored trends
across the country, where
the nation’s smallest coun-
ties were more likely to see
population declines or min-
imal increases.
Oregon’s popula-
tion grew by 10.6% from
2010 to 2020, reaching
4,237,256, according to
data released in April.
That’s up from 3.83 mil-
lion a decade prior. Oregon
remains the 27th most pop-
ulous state in the nation.
Oregon was the
13th-fastest growing state
over the last decade, but
grew more slowly than
six other western states,
including Utah, Idaho,
Nevada and Washington.
Hospitals across Oregon buckling under surge of COVID patients
Health care leaders beg people to get vaccinated, wear masks
By ANDREW SELSKY
The Associated Press
GRANTS PASS —
Patients left on beds in hos-
pital hallways, their mon-
itoring machines beeping
away as too few doctors
and nurses attend to an
overload of emergencies.
People diagnosed with
cancer or heart disease
desperately needing treat-
ments, but being turned
away.
Hospital staff ers and
public health managers
in southern Oregon say
it’s never been this bad.
And it’s apt to get worse
as the super-contagious
delta variant of COVID-19
spreads through a region
where fewer than half the
residents have been fully
vaccinated against the
coronavirus.
“This is the worst con-
dition our hospitals have
seen, likely ever. I don’t
know that anyone could
recall a time where we’ve
had this much pressure on
our health care system,”
Josephine County Public
Health Manager Michael
Weber told reporters
Thursday, Aug. 12.
The health care leaders
Notice
Recently, Avista requested a change in natural gas rates for our
Oregon customers. We know you care about your energy costs,
so we think it’s important to share this news with you.
got on a Zoom press con-
ference with reporters to
describe the dire situation,
and to beg people to get
vaccinated and wear masks.
“I implore you to wear
a mask and get vaccinated,
not just for your own pro-
tection, not just for your
family, but for your neigh-
bors and for the care and
support of your med-
ical teams,” said Leona
O’Keefe, deputy Josephine
County health offi cer.
Doctors, nurses and
other health care workers
who are on the front lines
are becoming overwhelmed
as the case load surpasses
even last year’s peak of
COVID-19 hospitalizations.
Oregon Health Authority
director Pat Allen said Aug.
11 that Oregon’s record-set-
ting COVID-19 hospital-
ization rate is fi lling hospi-
tals statewide. On Aug. 12,
there were a record number
of hospitalized patients with
COVID-19 across Oregon,
at 670, and 177 were in
intensive care units.
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On July 30, 2021, Avista made five annual rate adjustment filings with the
Public Utility Commission of Oregon (PUC) that if approved, are designed to
increase overall natural gas revenue by approximately $8.1 million or 7.4%
effective Nov. 1, 2021. These filings have no impact on Avista’s earnings.
The first rate adjustment is related to Avista’s decoupling mechanism.
Decoupling is designed to break the link between a utility’s revenues and
customers’ energy usage. Generally, Avista’s natural gas revenues are adjusted
each month based on the number of customers rather than therms sales. The
difference between revenues based on therm sales and revenues based on
the number of customers is surcharged or rebated to customers beginning
in the following year. If approved, Avista’s request is designed to increase
overall natural gas revenue by approximately $2.0 million or 1.8%. This rate
adjustment is driven primarily by the expiration of rebates currently being
passed through to customers.
The second rate adjustment is the annual Purchased Gas Cost Adjustment
(PGA) filing. PGAs are filed each year to balance the actual cost of wholesale
natural gas purchased by Avista to serve customers with the amount included
in rates. This includes the natural gas commodity cost as well as the cost
to transport natural gas on interstate pipelines to Avista’s local distribution
system. If approved, Avista’s natural gas revenues would increase by
approximately $6.1 million or 5.6%. This rate adjustment is driven primarily
by wholesale natural gas prices, which are higher than the level presently
included in rates. Avista does not profit on the actual natural gas commodity
or the costs to transport natural gas to Avista’s service territory.
The remaining three miscellaneous adjustments relate to intervenor funding,
demand side management program funding, and recovering costs associated
with regulatory fees. The combination of those three miscellaneous filings is
a decrease in overall natural gas revenue of approximately $49 thousand or
0.0% effective Nov. 1, 2021.
The bottom line
If all five requests are approved, and you are an Avista natural gas customer
using an average of 48 therms per month, you could expect your bill to
increase by $3.15, or 5.1% for a revised monthly bill of $64.68 beginning
Nov. 1, 2021. All other customer groups receiving
firm natural gas service from Avista would also see increases.
For more information
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are unable to provide copies
at our office locations as we usually do. However, copies of our
filings are available at www.myavista.com/rates or you can call
us at 1-800-227-9187.
This announcement is to provide you with general information about Avista’s
rate request and its effect on customers. The calculations and statements in
this announcement are not binding on the PUC. For more information about
the filing or for information about the time and place of any hearing, contact
the PUC at:
Public Utility Commission of Oregon
201 High Street SE, Ste. 100
Salem, OR 97301
(800) 522-2404, www.puc.state.or.us
This notice contains forward-looking statements regarding the Company’s current expectations.
Forward-looking statements are all statements other than historical facts. Such statements speak
only as of the date of the notice and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of
which are beyond the Company’s control, which could cause actual results to differ materially
from the expectations. These risks and uncertainties include, in addition to those discussed herein,
all the factors discussed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec.
31, 2020 and the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2021.
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