Refusal Letter (Confidentiality)

U.S. Department of Energy
Washington, DC 20585

[Building Manager]
[Company Name]
[Address]
[City], [State] [Zip Code]
[Building Manager],
Recently an interviewer from the National Opinion Research Organization (NORC) at the University of
Chicago contacted you on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy and asked for your participation in the
2007 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS). I am writing to address any concerns
you may have about the survey.
Let us assure you that any and all information that you provide will be held in the strictest of confidence and
is protected from disclosure by Federal law. These laws are the 2002 Confidential Information Protection
and Statistical Efficiency Act and the Privacy Act of 1974. Any person, including the interviewer, who makes
an unauthorized disclosure of the information you provide is subject to five years in prison and a $250,000
fine.
The CBECS is conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy every four years to gather information about
how U.S. commercial buildings like this one use energy. The data collected by the survey provides important
information about commercial energy costs and usage that helps those planning for your nation’s energy
future. You can get more information about the CBECS at http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cbecs.
NORC, the organization that is administering this survey under contract to the U.S. Department of Energy, is
a non-profit research organization with a long history of national service. It also has an unblemished record
of protecting the information provided by those participating in the surveys they conduct. You can obtain
more information about NORC at http://www.norc.org.
It is only because this building is essential to the survey that I am again asking for your participation. Each
building in the survey was scientifically selected to represent similar buildings – in some cases as many as
5,000 buildings. We need your help in this important survey that is sponsored by your government.
I have asked one of NORC’s interviewers to contact you again to schedule an interview. If you have any
other questions or concerns about this survey, or would like to schedule an interview appointment directly,
you can contact a NORC representative at (XXX) XXX-XXXX or by e-mail at [email protected]. If you
want to speak to someone at the U.S. Department of Energy, please call Joelle Michaels at (202) 586-8952 or
send her an e-mail at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Stephanie J. Battles
Director, Energy Consumption Division
Energy Information Administration

Authorizing Legislation:
The survey of the commercial sector is authorized under the Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974;
Public Law 93-275, as amended, and the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-486). The
Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS), conducted by the Energy Information
Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy, is a voluntary survey that provides information about
energy use in U.S. buildings.
Respondent Confidentiality:
This survey will be conducted under the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act
(CIPSEA) of 2002 (P.L. 107-347). Data collected under the provisions of this legislation are required to
be kept confidential and to be used only for statistical purposes (i.e., characterizations for population
subgroups that do not reveal any information that could identify individual responses). The Energy
Information Administration, as the sponsoring organization for the CBECS, is responsible for assuring
that all identifying information such as respondent names and addresses and/or building names and
addresses are kept confidential and cannot be linked to the data collected in the CBECS.
Public Reporting Burden:
Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average between 30 and 45
minutes per questionnaire. Send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this
collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to:
Energy Information Administration
Statistics and Methods Group EI-70
1000 Independence Ave, SW
Washington, D.C. 20585
and
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
Office of Management and Budget
Washington, D.C. 20503