SHOPP Cover Letter

Dear EIA-877 Respondent:

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is conducting the EIA-877, "Winter Heating Fuels Telephone Survey" It is essential for you to respond to this survey by Monday (Tuesday during weeks where Monday is a holiday) in order for EIA to prepare accurate and timely reports.

The data collected through SHOPP are very useful to EIA, states responding to Congressional and consumer inquiries, and companies such as yours as a valuable means of communication between federal and state governments and industry in the event of sudden market changes. With the increased levels of market volatility seen last year, SHOPP will be even more important in accurately assessing market conditions this winter. Your participation is vital to this effort. Aggregated data (averages across all responding companies) will be published weekly on the Heating Oil and Propane Update page at http://www.eia.gov/petroleum/heatingoilpropane.

Response to this survey is mandatory and required pursuant to 15 U.S.C., Sections 764(b), 772(b) and 790a of the Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974. EIA estimates that the average reporting burden for this survey is 6 minutes. For Form EIA-877, the information reported will be protected and not disclosed to the public to the extent that it satisfies the criteria for exemption under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. §552, the DOE regulations, 10 C.F.R. §1004.11, implementing the FOIA, and the Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. §1905. The information obtained by this survey may be made available in response to an order of a court of competent jurisdiction, or upon request, to another component of DOE, another federal agency for official use, to any committee of Congress, the General Accounting Office, other Congressional agencies authorized by law to receive such information, or your state energy office.

Please keep a copy of your survey responses for your records. If you have any questions, or need assistance in responding to this survey, please contact the Survey Operator: David Dudley at (202) 586-9240 or [email protected] or the Survey Manager: Marcela Rourk at (202) 586-4412 or [email protected]. Again, thank you for your cooperation in responding to this survey request so that EIA can provide timely and accurate information.

Sincerely,

Marcela E. Rourk
SHOPP Survey Manager
U.S. Energy Information Administration
Office of Energy Statistics

1000 Independence Avenue, SW

Washington, DC 20585