[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 103 (Tuesday, May 28, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46104-46106]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-11644]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Energy Information Administration


Agency Information Collection

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

ACTION: Notice and request for OMB review and comment.

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SUMMARY: EIA invites public comment on the reinstatement with changes 
to the Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) Forms EIA 457-A, D, 
E, F, and G under OMB Control Number 1905-0092, as required under the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. RECS collects data on energy 
characteristics, consumption, and expenditures for the residential 
sector of the United States and is comprised of five forms including: 
Form EIA 457-A Household Survey, Form EIA 457-D Energy Supplier Survey: 
Household Propane Usage, Form EIA 457-E Energy Supplier Survey: 
Household Electricity Usage, Form EIA 457-F, Energy Supplier Survey: 
Household Natural Gas Usage, Form EIA 457-G Energy Supplier Survey: 
Household Fuel Oil or Kerosene Usage. These forms will be used to 
collect information in calendar years 2024 and 2025 and will be used to 
produce household energy usage estimates for the reference year 2024.

DATES: EIA must receive all comments on this proposed information 
collection no later than June 27, 2024. If you anticipate that you will 
be submitting comments but find it difficult to do so within the period 
allowed by this notice, please advise the OMB Desk Officer of your 
intention to make a submission as soon as possible. The Desk Officer 
may be telephoned at (202) 881-8585.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chip Berry, U.S. Energy Information 
Administration, by telephone at (202) 586-5543, or by email at 
[email protected]. The proposed forms and instructions are available 
on EIA's website at www.eia.gov/survey/#eia-457.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This information collection request 
contains:
    (1) OMB No.: 1905-0092;
    (2) Information Collection Request Title: Residential Energy 
Consumption Survey;
    (3) Type of Request: Reinstatement with changes;
    (4) Purpose: The RECS is a nationwide study of energy use in 
housing units and includes a series of data collections from households 
and household energy suppliers. RECS results include official 
statistics about the energy characteristics, consumption,

[[Page 46105]]

and expenditures of U.S. homes. In addition to statistics produced 
directly from surveys of households and energy suppliers, EIA leverages 
the RECS survey information to model and produce energy end-use 
estimates (e.g., natural gas water heating consumption). EIA has 
conducted the RECS periodically since 1978 and the 2024 RECS will be 
the 16th data collection for the program.
    Form EIA 457-A: Household Survey collects information on the 
presence and characteristics of a wide range of energy-consuming 
devices in homes, including space heating and cooling equipment, 
appliances, and electronics. The Household Survey also asks respondents 
about key structural features and demographic characteristics that 
impact energy usage. Forms EIA 457-D, E, F, and G: Energy Supplier 
Surveys collect monthly electricity and natural gas billing data from 
energy suppliers (e.g., utilities), and periodic propane and fuel oil 
delivery data from bulk fuel suppliers provided by Household Survey 
respondents.
    RECS is integral to EIA's mandate to collect and publish energy 
end-use consumption data. RECS estimates represent the most 
comprehensive national and state-level results available on energy 
consumption in homes. RECS is a key, benchmark data series that allows 
policy makers and program implementers in both public and private 
organizations to analyze trends in energy consumption for the 
residential sector. RECS fulfills planning, analyses, and decision-
making needs of DOE, other Federal agencies, state governments, 
utilities, researchers, and energy analysts in the private sector.
    In addition to the annualized RECS estimates that EIA has produced 
for all prior RECS studies, EIA intends to release sub-annual (e.g., 
monthly) energy consumption and expenditures estimates from the 2024 
RECS. These estimates would be derived from monthly energy bills 
collected on the Energy Supplier Survey forms and modeled energy end-
use outputs.
    (4a) Proposed Changes to Information Collection: For the 2024 RECS, 
EIA intends to field a series of local-area samples in select 
metropolitan statistical areas around the country. These additional 
samples in 10 local areas will support EIA's efforts to expand its 
demand-side energy data program to produce energy-use results for more 
granular geographic and demographic communities.
    EIA proposes to update the Household Survey to improve response 
quality and update questions to reflect current energy trends. EIA is 
proposing the following questionnaire updates based on data quality 
analysis of the prior RECS, changes in the residential housing market, 
and stakeholder feedback. Proposed new questions reflect EIA's effort 
to collect the most relevant information necessary to estimate 
household energy use and to inform energy end-use estimation. Proposed 
question revisions should improve response quality, minimize reporting 
burden, and reflect changes in technology. EIA proposes deleting 
questions with poor response quality from the last collection or where 
data are now available from alternative sources.

Household Survey (EIA 457-A)

    Question additions and reinstatements (sections in parentheses):
     (Your Home) Added a question asking how many months a 
respondent's pool is heated. Pool heating can account for considerable 
energy use for a home and this question will improve EIA's ability to 
model pool energy end-use consumption and expenditures.
     (Appliances) Added a question asking about the presence of 
air fryers to the small kitchen appliances section.
     (Electronics) Added a question asking about the presence 
of external computer monitors.
     (Space Heating) Added a set of questions asking about 
third heating sources used in the home.
     (Space Heating) Added a question asking respondents if 
they use their heat pump for cooling as well as heating. This should 
improve our estimates of heat pumps used for both heating and cooling.
     (Space Heating and Air Conditioning) Added a question to 
each section about how people use their heating and cooling equipment. 
RECS asked this question in the 2009 survey about air conditioning 
only, but it would be useful to reinstate this for heating, as well, to 
understand how often respondents use their equipment. This is useful 
for modeling energy consumption for space heating and space cooling, 
which are the largest end uses in the household.
     (Water Heating) Added a question about the presence of 
heat pump/hybrid water heaters. Heat pump/hybrid water heaters are an 
emerging technology and can result in significant energy savings for a 
household if installed.
     (Water Heating) Added a question about the fuel for solar 
water heater backups. RECS asks about the presence of solar water 
heaters, but no information is currently collected about the fuel used 
to supplement or backup the solar water heaters. This will improve 
EIA's modeling of water heating end-use consumption.
     (Energy Bills) Reinstated a series of questions for bulk 
fuels asking respondents to estimate the amount that had been delivered 
in the past year. These questions are used for validating and imputing 
bulk fuel consumption.
     (Other Energy Uses) Added a question about the number of 
solar panels if a respondent indicates that they have solar panels.
     (Other Energy Uses) Added a question about battery storage 
for solar.
     (Other Energy Uses) Added a question asking about the 
number of electric vehicles owned or leased. This replaces the question 
from the 2020 RECS that asked only if a respondent had an electric 
vehicle.
     (Energy Assistance) Added a question related to inability 
to pay an energy bill in part or in full. While the RECS gathers 
information about people forgoing expenses to help pay for energy bills 
and information about the receipt of disconnection notices, there is a 
gap in knowledge about people who still face difficulties with energy 
bills but pay enough to not receive a notice.
     (Final Questions) Added a question asking respondents for 
their inverter company if they have solar generation. To improve our 
electricity consumption estimates for homes with solar, EIA will pilot 
a data collection from those companies concurrent with the Energy 
Supplier Survey data collection.

Revisions

     (Your Home) Changed questions asking how many months your 
pool and hot tub were ``in use'' to how many months the pool pump/hot 
tub were ``turned on.'' This change should better capture when pool 
equipment is running.
     (Appliances) Changed the phrasing of a question option for 
the location of the second refrigerator. ``Main living area'' was 
confusing and unclear. The option will be reworded as ``anywhere/
somewhere else in the house.''
     (Appliances) Provided an option for dual-fuel ranges to 
have fuels other than natural gas. Propane dual-fuel ranges are common 
enough to warrant this change.
     (Appliances) Removed the word ``rare'' from the induction 
cooktop question.
     (Appliances) Revised wording on the question asking about 
the number of microwaves from ``have'' to ``use.'' This change will 
better capture microwaves that are actively drawing power.

[[Page 46106]]

     (Electronics) Collapsed TV type categories into fewer 
options to reflect current technologies.
     (Space Heating) Added fireplace as a response option for 
main heating equipment. Similarly, added more response options to 
secondary heating equipment so that it is consistent with main heating 
equipment options.
     (Space Heating) Allow respondents to indicate using both 
wood cords and wood pellets.
     (Energy Bills) Adjusted the question focused on energy use 
for ``non-household purposes.''
     (Other Energy Uses) Revised the generator question to 
separately capture presence of whole-home or portable generators.
     (Household Characteristics) Revised the gender question as 
per guidance in OMB Executive Order 14075 (June 2022).
     (Household Characteristics) Adjusted the response 
categories for the household income question to reflect current income 
levels.

Deletions

     (Your Home) Removed a question asking respondents if they 
have natural gas available in their neighborhood. Our evaluation of 
missing rates and overall response quality indicates that many 
respondents who do not use natural gas are not aware if they have 
natural gas available to them.
     (Appliances) Removed a question about the number of months 
a respondent used a secondary refrigerator. Responses have been 
inconsistent, and 2020 RECS data indicate that nearly all households 
with a second refrigerator use them all year.
     (Electronics) Removed a series of questions about the 
purpose of TV usage. This series was added to the 2020 RECS, but EIA 
determined there is little analytical value of this information with 
regard to energy usage in homes.
     (Electronics) Removed a question asking about VCRs. Few 
respondents have them and they do not consume a lot of energy.
     (Electronics) Removed a series of questions about the use 
of equipment for teleworking. These questions were added at the 
beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to assess a potential change in 
household behavior due to the pandemic.
     (Thermostats and Temperatures) Removed a series of 
questions asking how respondents control their thermostats. This 
information was not used in modeling end-use energy consumption. RECS 
plans to replace this question with the above addition about how people 
use their heating and cooling equipment.
     (Water Heating) Removed a question about whether 
respondents use a blanket for their water heater.
     (Other Energy Uses) Removed a series of questions about 
non-solar renewable energy. On-site residential wind energy generation 
and combined heat and power systems are rare. We have retained a 
question about presence of on-site solar.
     (Household Characteristics) Removed a question asking 
about the total number of household members. RECS already asks 
questions about how many adults and how many children live in the 
household and gives those questions primacy.
     (Final Questions) Removed a series of questions asking 
respondents in large apartment buildings about their landlord 
information. This was used in the 2020 RECS to conduct a Multifamily 
Buildings Study, which has been discontinued.

Energy Supplier Surveys (EIA 457 D-G)

    EIA proposes to reduce the number of months of bills or fuel 
deliveries collected on the Energy Supplier Survey forms from 24 months 
to 20 months. Collecting 24 months of bills for the 2020 RECS was 
necessary to evaluate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on energy use 
for households. The additional four months of bills are no longer 
needed, and 20 months of billing and fuel delivery data is sufficient 
for 2024 RECS estimation.
    (5) Annual Estimated Number of Respondents: 5,641;
    (6) Annual Estimated Number of Total Responses: 5,641;
    (7) Annual Estimated Number of Burden Hours: 3,909;
    (8) Annual Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: The 
annualized cost of the burden hours is estimated to be $356,344 (3,909 
hours times $91.16 per hour). The burden estimates are annualized over 
the four-year project cycle. EIA estimates that respondents will have 
no additional costs associated with the surveys other than the burden 
hours and the maintenance of the information during the normal course 
of business.
    Comments are invited on whether or not: (a) The proposed collection 
of information is necessary for the proper performance of agency 
functions, including whether the information will have a practical 
utility; (b) EIA's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 
information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions 
used, is accurate; (c) EIA can improve the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information it will collect; and (d) EIA can minimize 
the burden of the collection of information on respondents, such as 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    Statutory Authority: 15 U.S.C. 772(b) and 42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq. 
Section 13(b) of the Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974, Pub. L. 
93-275, codified as 15 U.S.C. 772(b) and the DOE Organization Act of 
1977, Pub. L. 95-91, codified at 42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.

    Signed in Washington, DC, on May 22, 2024.
Samson A. Adeshiyan,
Director, Office of Statistical Methods and Research, U. S. Energy 
Information Administration.
[FR Doc. 2024-11644 Filed 5-24-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P