The United States Energy Information Administration (EIA), created by Congress in 1977, is the independent statistical agency within the U.S. Department of Energy. EIA's mission is to provide policy-independent data, forecasts, and analyses to promote sound policy making, efficient markets, and public understanding regarding energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment.
The agency collects data on energy reserves, production, consumption, distribution, prices, technology, and related international, economic, and financial matters. This information is disseminated as policy-independent data, forecasts, and analyses. EIA publishes long- and short-term energy forecasts. EIA programs cover data on coal, petroleum, natural gas, electric, renewable and nuclear energy.
Lobby Groups to Use Town Hall Tactics to Oppose Climate Bill The Energy Information Administration, meanwhile, the EIA forecast energy bill costs could rise between $26 per household to $362 by 2020 across the range of scenarios, and shave up to 0.9%, or $1.9 trillion off of gross domestic product by 2030 as energy prices rise under a proposed landmark climate bill passed by the US House of Representatives.
Independence
By law, EIA's products are prepared independently of policy considerations. EIA neither formulates nor advocates any policy conclusions. The Department of Energy Organization Act allows EIA's processes and products to be independent from review by Executive Branch officials; specifically Section 205(d) says:
"The Administrator shall not be required to obtain the approval of any other officer or employee of the Department in connection with the collection or analysis of any information; nor shall the Administrator be required, prior to publication, to obtain the approval of any other officer or employee of the United States with respect to the substance of any statistical or forecasting technical reports which he has prepared in accordance with law." [1]
Products, Publications, and Databases
The Energy Information Administration offices are in the
Forrestal Building.
1000 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20585
More than 2 million people use EIA's information online each month. Some of EIA's most popular products include:
- Energy Kid's Page: The most popular product from EIA is its "Kid's Page," which educates students, citizens, and even policymakers and journalists about energy.
- Country Energy Profiles: Data through 2006 by country, region, and commercial group (OECD, OPEC) for 215 countries and in-depth analysis for 151 countries.
- Monthly Energy Review: Provides statistics on monthly and annual U.S. national energy consumption going back approximately 30 years, broken down by source in downloadable PDF. The figures are given in units of quads (quadrillion BTUs.)
- Annual Energy Review: EIA's primary report of historical annual energy statistics. For many series, data begins with the year 1949.
- Country Analysis Briefs: EIA's in-depth analyses of energy production, consumption, imports, and exports for more than 50 individual countries and regions.
Legislation Affecting EIA
The Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974, Public Law 93-275, as amended, created the first U.S. agency with the primary focus on energy and mandated it to collect, assemble, evaluate, and analyze energy information. It also provided FEA with data collection enforcement authority for gathering data from energy producing and major consuming firms. Section 52 of the FEA Act mandated establishment of the National Energy Information System to "…contain such energy information as is necessary to carry out the Administration’s statistical and forecasting activities…"
The Department of Energy Organization Act of 1977, Public Law 95-91, created the Department of Energy. Section 205 of this law established the Energy Information Administration (EIA) to carry out a
. . . central, comprehensive, and unified energy data and information program which will collect, evaluate, assemble, analyze, and disseminate data and information which is relevant to energy resource reserves, energy production, demand, and technology, and related economic and statistical information, or which is relevant to the adequacy of energy resources to meet demands in the near and longer term future for the Nation’s economic and social needs.
The same law established that EIA's processes and products are independent from review by Executive Branch officials.
The majority of EIA energy data surveys are based on the general mandates set forth above. However, there are some surveys specifically mandated by law, including:
- EIA-28, Financial Reporting System - Section 205(h) of the DOE Organization Act.
- EIA-1605 and 1605EZ, Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases - Section 1605(b) of the Energy Policy Act of 1992.
- EIA-886, Annual Survey of Alternative Fueled Vehicle Suppliers and Users - Section 503(b) of the Energy Policy Act of 1992.
- EIA-858, Uranium Marketing Annual Survey - Section 1015 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992.
- EIA-846A-C, Manufacturing Energy Consumption Survey - Section 205(i) of the DOE Organization Act (the Act calls for a biennial survey; however, this survey is done quadrennially due to resource constraints).
- EIA-457A-G, Residential Energy Consumption Survey - Section 205(k) of the DOE Organization Act (the Act calls for a triennial survey; however, this survey is done quadrennially due to resource constraints).
- EIA-871A-F, Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey - Section 205(k) of the DOE Organization Act (the Act calls for a triennial survey; however, this survey is done quadrennially due to resource constraints).
- Petroleum Marketing Surveys - Section 507 of Part A of Title V of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 broadly directs EIA to collect information on the pricing, supply, and distribution of petroleum products by product category at the wholesale and retail levels, on a State-by-State basis, which was collected as of September 1, 1981, by the Energy Information Administration.
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