[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 169 (Thursday, August 30, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52708-52709]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-21403]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

U.S. Energy Information Administration


Request to Revise a Currently-Approved Data Collection

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

ACTION: Notice and request for OMB review and comment.

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SUMMARY: EIA has submitted a request to revise a currently-approved 
data collection under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995 to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). EIA proposes changes 
to the data collection requirements for the Forms EIA-861, ``Annual 
Electric Power Industry Report,'' EIA-923, ``Power Plant Operations 
Report,'' and the proposed creation of the Form EIA-861S, ``Annual 
Electric Power Industry Report (Short).'' All collection instruments 
are under OMB Control Number 1905-0129. The Form EIA-861 proposal is to 
modify the survey frame from a census of approximately 3,300 entities 
to a sample of approximately 2,200 entities and to estimate the total 
sales, revenues, and customer counts by sector. The Form EIA-861S 
proposal will collect data from the approximately

[[Page 52709]]

1,100 respondents that will no longer report on the Form EIA-861. The 
Form EIA-861S will collect a limited amount of sales, revenue, and 
customer count data and, for certain respondents, data on time-based 
rate customers and advanced meter reading (Advanced Metering 
Infrastructure/Automatic Meter Reading). Once every 5 years, the Form 
EIA-861S respondents will be asked to complete the Form EIA-861 in lieu 
of Form EIA-861S for sampling methodology purposes.
    The Form EIA-923 proposal involves modifying the reporting 
requirements for only Schedule 2, which collects cost and quality data 
of fossil fuel purchases at electricity generating plants. The proposal 
is to raise the reporting threshold to 200 megawatts (MW) of nameplate 
capacity for power plants primarily fueled by natural gas, petroleum 
coke, distillate fuel oil, and residual fuel oil. EIA will remove the 
reporting requirement for self-produced and minor fuels, i.e., blast 
furnace gas, other manufactured gases, kerosene, jet fuel, propoane, 
and waste oils. The reporting threshold for coal plants will remain at 
50 MW of nameplate capacity.

DATES: Comments regarding this proposed information collection must be 
received on or before October 1, 2012. If you anticipate that you will 
be submitting comments, but find it difficult to do so within the 
period of time allowed by this notice, please advise the DOE Desk 
Officer at OMB of your intention to make a submission as soon as 
possible. The Desk Officer may be telephoned at 202-395-4718 or 
contacted by email at [email protected].

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to:

DOE Desk Officer, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office 
of Management and Budget, New Executive Office Building, 735 17th 
Street NW., Washington, DC 20503.

And to:

Rebecca A. Peterson, Office of Electricity, Renewables, and Uranium 
Statistics, Energy Information Administration, Email: [email protected], 
Fax: 202-287-1938.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the information collection instrument and instructions should 
be directed to Rebecca A. Peterson, [email protected]. Further details 
are available on the ERUS 2013 Web page at http://www.eia.gov/survey/changes/electricity/.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This information collection request 
contains: (1) OMB No.: 1905-0129; (2) Information Collection Request 
Title: Electricity Data Program; (3) Type of Request: Revision of a 
currently approved collection; (4) Purpose: The Forms EIA-861 and EIA-
861S are mandatory surveys used to collect retail sales of electricity 
and associated revenue from all electric utilities, energy service 
providers, and distribution companies in the United States, its 
territories, and Puerto Rico on an annual basis. Form EIA-923 Schedule 
2 collects information from regulated and unregulated electric power 
plants in the United States that burn certain fossil fuels and meet the 
reporting threshold. Data collected include fuel receipts, cost, 
quality, and coal mine information. Data from these three collection 
instruments are published for use by Congress and public and private 
analysts to monitor the status and trends of the electric power 
industry. The proposed changes to the Forms EIA-861 and EIA-923 data 
collections, and the proposed creation of the Form EIA-861S, are 
anticipated to reduce reporting burden for smaller respondents, in 
particular, and to reduce the level of effort EIA requires to collect 
and validate survey data; (5) Annual Estimated Number of Respondents: 
4,376; (6) Annual Estimated Number of Total Responses: 15,354; (7) 
Annual Estimated Number of Burden Hours: 35,934; (8) Annual Estimated 
Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: EIA estimates that there are 
no additional costs to respondents associated with the surveys other 
than the costs associated with the burden hours.

    Statutory Authority: Section 13(b) of the Federal Energy 
Administration Act of 1974, 93, codified at 15 U.S.C. 772(b).

    Issued in Washington, DC, on August 24, 2012.
Stephanie Brown,
Director, Office of Survey Development and Statistical Integration, 
U.S. Energy Information Administration.
[FR Doc. 2012-21403 Filed 8-29-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P