[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 90 (Monday, May 10, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25886-25888]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-10547]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Energy Information Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request

AGENCY: Energy Information Administration (EIA), Department of Energy 
(DOE).

ACTION: Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request.

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SUMMARY: The EIA is soliciting comments on the proposed revision to 
Form EIA-910, ``Monthly Natural Gas Marketer Survey''. EIA is 
requesting a revision to add seven States and the District of Columbia 
to the survey frame, which consists of natural gas marketers.

DATES: Comments must be filed by July 9, 2004. If you anticipate 
difficulty in submitting comments within that period, contact the 
person listed below as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Elizabeth Campbell, Director of the Natural 
Gas Division. To ensure receipt of the comments by the due date, 
submission by FAX at (202) 586-4420 or e-mail at 
[email protected] is recommended. The mailing address is: 
Elizabeth Campbell, Director, Natural Gas Division, Forrestal Building, 
EI-44, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC 20585. Alternatively, 
Ms. Campbell may be contacted by telephone at (202) 586-5590.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of any forms and instructions should be directed to Ms. Campbell 
at the address listed above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background
II. Current Actions
III. Request for Comments

I. Background

    The Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974 (Pub. L. No. 93-275, 
15 U.S.C. 761 et seq.) and the DOE Organization Act (Pub. L. No. 95-91, 
42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) require the EIA to carry out a centralized, 
comprehensive, and unified energy information program. This program 
collects, evaluates, assembles, analyzes, and disseminates information 
on energy resource reserves, production, demand, technology, and 
related economic and statistical information. This information

[[Page 25887]]

is used to assess the adequacy of energy resources to meet near and 
longer term domestic demands.
    The EIA, as part of its effort to comply with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), provides 
the general public and other Federal agencies with opportunities to 
comment on collections of energy information conducted by or in 
conjunction with the EIA. Any comments received help the EIA to prepare 
data requests that maximize the utility of the information collected, 
and to assess the impact of collection requirements on the public. 
Also, the EIA will later seek approval by the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) under section 3507(a) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995.
    The EIA has been conducting the survey, Form EIA-910, ``Monthly 
Natural Gas Marketer Survey,'' since August 2001 in the States of 
Georgia, Maryland, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The survey collects 
information from natural gas marketers on the number of customers, 
volume, and revenue of natural gas sold to residential and commercial 
end-use customers. The data collected on the EIA-910 is combined with 
data collected from gas utility companies on Form EIA-857, ``Monthly 
Report of Natural Gas Purchases and Deliveries''. The combined data are 
published as residential and commercial sector prices in the Natural 
Gas Monthly and Natural Gas Annual available at http://www.eia.doe.gov.
    These States were identified by EIA as having some of the highest 
and most problematic levels of missing price data for the residential 
and commercial consumer sectors due to the active customer programs 
that allow customers to choose to purchase their gas from marketers 
instead of local distribution or utility companies. Based upon the data 
already collected on the EIA-910, EIA believes that customers purchase 
natural gas from marketers because the customers expect to pay lower 
prices for their gas than if the customers purchased the gas from the 
local distribution companies or pipelines that deliver the gas. 
Therefore, EIA's lack of coverage of sales by marketers may lead to 
price estimates that are higher than the actual prices paid. This bias 
in the data has serious implications for both public and private users 
of EIA's data. The implementation of the EIA-910 data to EIA's price 
estimates in the residential and commercial sectors in 2002 for the 
States of Georgia, Maryland, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania has been 
successful in raising the percent coverage of natural gas prices at the 
national level from 92.2% in 2001 to 97.9% in 2002 in the residential 
sector and from 65.8% in 2001 to 78.4% in 2002 in the commercial 
sector.
    Please refer to the proposed forms and instructions http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/natural_gas/survey_forms/nat_survey_forms.html for more information about the purpose, who must report, 
when to report, where to submit, the elements to be reported, detailed 
instructions, provisions for confidentiality, and uses of the 
information. For instructions on obtaining materials, see the FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.

II. Current Actions

    EIA is requesting a revision to add seven States and the District 
of Columbia to the survey frame. Currently, EIA-910 respondents in 
Georgia, Maryland, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania report the number of 
customers, volumes of natural gas sold, and revenues.
    EIA is now proposing to expand the EIA-910 to include reporting in 
Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Virginia, West 
Virginia and the District of Columbia. The selection of the additional 
States and the District of Columbia is based on the increasing 
percentage of natural gas sold by marketers and growth patterns in 
customer choice programs. This expansion of the EIA-910 survey will 
lead to improved quality of the natural gas price data in the 
residential and commercial sectors. For example, current published 
prices in the commercial sector for the proposed new States and the 
District of Columbia only represent 23 to 63 percent of commercial 
volumes consumed in those areas. The addition of the new States and the 
District of Columbia to the EIA-910 survey frame will bring the percent 
of volumes represented by published prices in the commercial sector to 
100 percent in those areas.

III. Request for Comments

    Prospective respondents and other interested parties should comment 
on the actions discussed in item II. The following guidelines are 
provided to assist in the preparation of comments.

General Issues

    A. Is the proposed collection of information necessary for the 
proper performance of the functions of the agency and does the 
information have practical utility? Practical utility is defined as the 
actual usefulness of information to or for an agency, taking into 
account its accuracy, adequacy, reliability, timeliness, and the 
agency's ability to process the information it collects.
    B. What enhancements can be made to the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information to be collected?

As a Potential Respondent to the Request for Information

    A. What actions could be taken to help ensure and maximize the 
quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of the information to be 
collected?
    B. Are the instructions and definitions clear and sufficient? If 
not, which instructions need clarification?
    C. Can the information be submitted by the due date?
    D. Public reporting burden for this collection is currently 
estimated to average two hours per monthly response per state. 
Approximately 87 new responses are expected as a result of the addition 
of these States and the District of Columbia, resulting in an increase 
in total annual burden of 2,088 hours. The estimated burden includes 
the total time necessary to provide the requested information. In your 
opinion, how accurate is this estimate?
    E. The agency estimates that the only cost to a respondent is for 
the time it will take to complete the collection. Will a respondent 
incur any start-up costs for reporting, or any recurring annual costs 
for operation, maintenance, and purchase of services associated with 
the information collection?
    F. What additional actions could be taken to minimize the burden of 
this collection of information? Such actions may involve the use of 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.
    G. Does any other Federal, State, or local agency collect similar 
information? If so, specify the agency, the data element(s), and the 
methods of collection.

As a Potential User of the Information To Be Collected

    A. What actions could be taken to help ensure and maximize the 
quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of the information 
disseminated?
    B. Is the information useful at the levels of detail to be 
collected?
    C. For what purpose(s) would the information be used? Be specific.
    D. Are there alternate sources for the information and are they 
useful? If so, what are their weaknesses and/or strengths?
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of the form. They also 
will become a matter of public record.


[[Page 25888]]


    Statutory Authority: Section 3507(h)(1) of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. No. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35).

    Issued in Washington, DC, May 4, 2004.
Nancy Kirkendall,
Director, Statistics and Methods Group, Energy Information 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 04-10547 Filed 5-7-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P