Letter

June 28, 2007

Mr. Paul Balserak
Department of Energy Desk Officer
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
Office of Management and Budget
Washington, DC 20503
SUBJECT: DOE-887(73) USE OF GENERIC CLEARANCE FOR THE INDUSTRIAL
TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM SURVEY OF TRAINING AND SOFTWARE
RECIPIENTS
Dear Mr. Balserak:
The Industrial Technologies Program (ITP) of the Department of Energy plans to use the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved generic clearance DOE-887, “DOE
Customer Surveys” (OMB Number1901-0302, expiring 10/31/2009) to conduct a
Telephone customer survey to obtain feedback from recipients of ITP’s software tools
and training sessions. The proposed study is very similar to the survey of ITP Qualified
Specialists that was conducted under this generic clearance in 2005. As agreed to under
the DOE-887 “DOE Customer Surveys” clearance, we will anticipate your approval
within two weeks. However, without the approval, we will not conduct this survey. We
will provide OMB with the results of this data collection when we submit the annual
report of surveys conducted under the generic clearance.
The Industrial Technologies Program has developed the attached two surveys in response
to Executive Order 12862, “Setting Customer Service Standards.” One of the surveys is
for training recipients and the other is for recipients of software tools. Both survey
instruments are essentially the same, but a few questions have been tailored to reflect
possible differences in the experiences of training and software recipients. The responses
to the proposed questions will be used as input for improving the quality of ITP training
sessions and software tools and making them more effective, efficient, and responsive to
customer needs.
The recipients of the survey are all classified as “end-users,” who directly influence how
energy is consumed in industrial facilities. Each training session and software tool
provided by ITP addresses energy-saving opportunities for one of the following energy
systems: process heat, steam, pumps, compressed air, fans, and motors. To reduce the
burden on survey recipients, each individual will be asked about either the training or
software associated with only one of the six above-named energy systems, even if they
received services addressing more than one of them.
The survey will be conducted via telephone interviews with “end users” who received the
above-described ITP services during the 2006 Fiscal Year (October 1, 2005 – September

30, 2006). The sampling frame for the training survey consists of staff at 603
manufacturing plants and the sampling frame for the software survey consists of staff at
864 plants. From those populations, we will select samples and attempt to complete 440
surveys with training recipients and 571 with software recipients. The response rate will
be optimized by: (1) mailing a personalized advance letter from the study sponsor to each
potential respondent, explaining the purpose and importance of the study; (2) using
highly-qualified and well-trained interviewers with good respondent-recruitment skills;
and (3) making multiple call-backs at different times and on different days of the week.
We will provide OMB with the exact response rate that is achieved in our annual report.
Participation will be voluntary and the individual responses will be kept confidential.
Answers will not be linked to the respondents or their companies, and the resulting data
will be reported only in the aggregate.
The attached survey has been pre-tested on eight ITP service recipients (four who
received training and four who received software) and a number of questions have been
adjusted to make them easier to answer. Based on the pre-test experience, we are
confident that the survey will take 15 minutes or less to complete. Accordingly, the total
respondent burden should not exceed 250 hours (1,000 respondents x 15 minutes).
James Quinn, Industrial Technologies Program, is the point of contact for questions and
may be reached at 202-586-5725. Other questions should be directed to Michaela Martin
at 865-574-8688.
Sincerely,
Nancy Kirkendall
Nancy J. Kirkendall
Director
Statistics and Methods Group
Energy Information Administration
Attachments:
1. Survey for Industrial Technologies Program End User Training Recipients
2. Survey for Industrial Technologies Program End User Software Recipients
3. Industrial Classification Index
4. DOE Software Tools, by Topic

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