Annual Report of Natural and Supplemental Gas Supply and Disposition

	U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY	Form Approved
	ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION	OMB No. 1905-0175
	Washington, DC 20585	Expiration Date: xx/xx/xxxx

ANNUAL REPORT OF NATURAL AND SUPPLEMENTAL GAS SUPPLY AND DISPOSITION

FORM EIA-176

INSTRUCTIONS

PURPOSE

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) Form EIA-176, “Annual Report of Natural and Supplemental Gas Supply and Disposition,” is designed to collect data on natural, synthetic, and other supplemental gas supplies, disposition, and certain revenues by state. The data appear in the EIA publications, Monthly Energy Review, Natural Gas Annual, and Natural Gas Monthly.

REPORTING REQUIREMENT

Report must be completed by:

(1) Interstate natural gas pipeline companies,

(2) Intrastate natural gas pipeline companies,

(3) Natural gas distribution companies,

(4) Underground natural gas storage operators,

(5) Synthetic natural gas plant operators,

(6) Field, well, or processing plant operators that deliver natural gas directly to consumers (including their own industrial facilities) other than for lease or plant use or processing,

(7) Field, well, or processing plant operators that transport gas to, across, or from a state border through field or gathering facilities,

(8) Liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage operators, both peaking facilities and marine terminals.

A separate report must be completed for each state in which your company is engaged in one or more of the following activities:

1. Gas (natural, commingled natural and supplemental gas, or LNG) was transported utilizing respondent-operated facilities other than field or gathering lines,

2. Gas was transported to, from, or across a state border utilizing respondent-operated field or gathering lines,

3. Gas was delivered directly to consumers utilizing respondent operated facilities other than field, well, or plant operators delivering solely for lease and plant use or processing,

4. Gas was stored in respondent-operated underground storage reservoirs, or LNG storage facilities, and/or

5. Synthetic natural gas was produced in respondent-operated facilities.

This report is mandatory. A separate report should be filed by, or for, each company subsidiary or affiliate meeting the filing requirements that operated separate systems within a state. However, approval to report on a consolidated basis for a state may be granted upon request to the EIA at (877) 800-5261.

A state, for the purpose of this report, includes adjacent offshore Federal Domain areas.

WHEN TO REPORT

Form EIA-176 is due March 1^st. If an extension is needed call
(877) 800-5261.

HOW TO REPORT

Instructions on where to report via mail, fax, secure file transfer, or email are printed on Part 2 of Form EIA-176.

You may file electronically using Electronic Filing System (EFS) for Form EIA-176 that can be installed on a personal computer (PC). If you have any questions, please contact the Electronic Data Collection Staff on (202) 586-9659.

COPIES OF THE SURVEY FORM AND INSTRUCTIONS

Copies in portable document format (PDF) and spreadsheet format (XLS) are available on EIA's website at:

www.eia.gov/oil_gas/natural_gas/survey_forms/nat_survey_forms.html

You can also access the materials by following these steps:

1. Go to EIA's website at www.eia.gov.

   1. Click on the Natural Gas category (this takes you to EIA's natural gas information page).

   2. Click on the Survey Forms link located in the reference box in the lower right corner.

2. Select the materials you want.

Files must be saved to your personal computer. Data cannot be entered interactively on the web site.

SECURE FILE TRANSFER

Forms may be submitted through the Secure File Transfer System. The secure hypertext transfer protocol (HTTPS) is an industry standard method to send information over the web using a secure, encrypted process. All information is protected by 128-bit encryption to maintain the privacy and confidentiality of transmitted data. The Secure File Transfer System may be accessed through the following web address: https://signon.eia.doe.gov/upload/noticeoog.jsp.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

Complete only those Parts and data elements applicable to your operations. Leave all other spaces blank. No data are to be entered in the shaded areas or spaces.

All information is to be reported on a calendar year basis. Volumes are to refer to natural gas physically in your possession (custody basis).

Revised reports are not required unless actual or corrected data vary more than plus (+) or minus (-) 4 percent from the data previously reported.

Specific Instructions

PART 1: RESPONDENT IDENTIFICATION

Please provide up-to-date company information.

EIA ID Number: Complete the 10-digit identification number assigned by EIA. Companies operating in more than one state should note that a unique number has been assigned for operations in each state. In the event an identification number has not been assigned, leave the space blank and contact the EIA at (877) 800-5261, a number will then be assigned by the EIA.

Resubmission: Check the box if report is a revised report. Otherwise, if the report is an original, leave this space blank.

Company Name: Enter the company name.

Operations in (State): Enter the name of the state covered by the report. A separate report must be submitted for each state for which your company is required to file.

Contact Information: Enter the current contact information.

PART 3: COMPANY CHARACTERISTICS

Provides information for the four options available for submitting your completed Form EIA-176: (1) mail; (2) fax; (3) email; and (4) Secure File Transfer.

A. Type of Operations (Check all that apply). Check all of the boxes that describe your company’s overall gas operations. This information will be used to provide aggregates of the data collected in the survey by type of company. For a description of gas operations, please reference the “Definitions” section included in these instructions.

B. Vehicles Powered by Natural Gas. Indicate whether your company fleet includes vehicles that are powered by natural gas. If your company fleet includes vehicles powered by natural gas, enter the number of vehicles that are powered by natural gas.  If your company sells natural gas directly to the public at a fueling facility, report the natural gas pump price on December 31 of the report year, in cents per gasoline gallon equivalent.

C. Customer Choice Program. Indicate if your company actively allows residential and/or commercial customers, regardless of size, to purchase fuel from an alternative supplier. If yes, indicate the number of customers in your service territory eligible for such programs at the end of the calendar year, as well as the number currently participating at the end of the year. The number of participants may not necessarily equal the number of transportation customers listed in Part VI, Line 11, due to measurements taken at different points in time.

D. Sales/Acquisitions. Indicate whether your company’s service territory changed due to purchase or sale of any system or part thereof. For instance, if a municipal system was acquired, indicate “yes” and identify the name in the comments area and the transaction date.

PART 4: NATURAL AND SUPPLEMENTAL GAS SUPPLY FOR THE REPORT STATE

Report the total volumes and costs, including taxes, of natural and supplemental gas physically produced or received and taken into company-operated storage, company-operated transportation or company-operated distribution facilities located in the report state. Volumes are to be reported on a physical possession basis regardless of ownership.

1. If you are a producer, report production within the report state of

1.1 Natural gas: Report gross production, after lease separation, (including royalty and overriding royalty interest) taken directly into your system at the wellhead, field or tailgate of a processing plant, whether produced from wells operated by your company or by others.

Please report vented & flared volumes and extraction loss volumes on Line 18.4.

1.2 Synthetic natural gas (SNG): Report the volume of synthetic natural gas produced in the plant or plants operated by your company. Synthetic natural gas, also referred to as substitute natural gas, is a manufactured product, chemically similar in most respects to natural gas, resulting from the conversion or reforming of coal or petroleum hydrocarbons which may easily be substituted for, or interchanged with, pipeline quality natural gas.

2. If you are a storage operator, report operations within the report state: Report the total volume, regardless of ownership, of underground storage withdrawals (2.1) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage withdrawals (2.2).

For the volume reported on Line 2.1, include a corresponding entry on Part 6 (disposition), most likely on Line 18.2, so that the net value of your storage activity’s supply and disposition is zero.

Please note, for Line 2.2 LNG storage withdrawals – LNG import and export marine terminals should not report withdrawals of natural gas during the course of routine operations for handling imports and not held in storage for future use.

Please see the section of these instructions titled “LNG Marine Terminals Reporting” for further guidance.

3.0 If you are an interstate pipeline company or other company receiving physical custody at state lines or U.S. borders, report receipts: Report the name of the company, the adjacent state or country from which the gas was received, the means of transportation used to deliver gas (by pipeline, vessel, or truck), and the volume of gas received at the state line or U.S. border. For liquefied natural gas (LNG) received by ship, rail, barge, or truck, consider the receiving terminal as a point on the state line or U.S. border, report the name of the state or country from which the LNG was shipped, and describe the transaction by footnote on Part 7.

4.0 If you are a distributor, report receipts at city gates within the report state: Report gas volumes and costs received at the city gate for delivery to end-use customers.

4.1 Report the total volume and cost, including taxes, of purchased gas received in your distribution service area during the year: Volumes should represent all gas physically received for sale and delivery to consumers, whether purchased from pipeline companies, marketers, brokers, producers or other sources, or exchange gas, or company-owned gas received from storage not stored in company-owned storage facilities.

Costs should represent the total cost of those volumes, including any and all demand charges, commodity charges, annual minimum bill and/or take-or-pay charges, surcharges, refunds in the form of reduced charges, charges incidental to underground storage of company-owned gas, and transportation charges paid or incurred to deliver gas to your distribution service area.

Net gains or losses associated with financial hedges are to be included for the report year in which the gas associated with the hedge is received.

Only report receipts of gas in your distribution service area during the report year and for which full delivered costs, including any separately stated transportation cost, are regularly recorded. The data collected are not intended to represent, and will not be portrayed as representing, the total cost of gas sold during the report year.

Note: Pipeline companies are not required to report Citygate purchases.

Respondents with a contiguous distribution service area extending across states lines should report purchased gas information only on the reports for the states in which the gas was actually received.

4.2 Report volumes of gas received into your service territory for delivery on behalf of third parties or marketers: Report receipts of gas in your distribution service area for delivery to your end-use transportation customers.

5.0 Report any other receipts of natural gas within the report state: Report the volume of other receipts within the report state if the gas was delivered to a point on your company’s system and not previously reported in questions 1.0 through 4.0 above. Include volumes of both natural gas, liquefied natural gas, and synthetic natural gas.

6.0 Supplemental gaseous fuel supplies (Specify type): Report sources of supplemental gas supply received or introduced into your system and the volume(s) of each. Supplemental gas includes any gaseous substance introduced into or commingled with natural gas that increases the volume available for disposition. Such substances include, but are not limited to, propane-air, refinery gas, coke oven gas, still gas, manufactured gas, biomass gas, or air or inerts added for Btu stabilization.

PART 5: LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS (LNG) STORAGE INVENTORY

8.0 Inventory and capacity of natural gas in storage as of December 31 of report year. Report inventory and capacity of LNG facilities (8.1) and marine terminal facilities (8.2) as of December 31 of the report year. Capacity refers to the Maximum Daily Sendout Capacity of the LNG facility and should be reported in million cubic feet per day.

PART 6: NATURAL AND SUPPLEMENTAL GAS DISPOSITION FOR THE REPORT STATE

Report in Part 6, the total volumes of and where indicated, the revenue (including taxes) from natural and supplemental gas delivered to others, consumed, or stored in company-operated facilities, or otherwise disposed of within the state or delivered to bordering states or to foreign countries.

The type of disposition (delivered, consumed, stored, etc.) is to be determined based upon the physical possession of the gas within your company-operated production, transportation, storage, or distribution facilities at the point of disposition.

Revenue information is to be reported only for volumes sold and delivered directly to the end-use customers and is to be gross revenues including any and all demand charges, commodity charges, taxes, surcharges, adjustments or other charges billed for gas delivered. Any gains or losses associated with financial hedges are to be included. Please indicate by footnote if taxes are not included in revenue figures. All revenue values are to be rounded to the nearest whole number of dollars.

The average number of consumers during the year, for the purpose of this report, is the sum of the number of consumers attached to your system at the end of each month divided by twelve.

Each dwelling, building, plant, establishment, or location is to be counted as a separate consumer, for the purpose of this report, whether or not centrally billed and whether or not provided with more than one type of service, e.g., firm and interruptible service.

Consumers should be classified by category in accordance with the definitions provided below. Multiple-use or combination consumers such as apartment buildings with commercial establishments, retail stores with attached dwellings, or industrial plants with on-site office space or buildings served from a common meter are to be classified based upon the predominate volumetric usage. If certain categories, e.g., residential and commercial, are carried on a combined basis in your accounts, please provide your best estimate of the information for each category separately. If you have no reasonable basis for categorizing the estimates, enter the information as “Other” and describe in a footnote in Part 7.

Deliveries directly to end-use consumers are to be reported based upon the following definitions:

Residential: An energy-consuming sector that consists of living quarters for private households. Common uses of energy associated with this sector include space heating, water heating, and cooking. The residential sector includes mobile homes and apartment buildings [whether privately owned or publicly subsidized] and excludes institutional living quarters.

Commercial: An energy-consuming sector that consists of service-providing facilities and equipment of businesses; Federal, state, and local governments; and other private and public organizations, such as religious, social, or fraternal groups. The commercial sector includes institutional living quarters. Common uses of energy associated with this sector include space heating, water heating, cooking, and running a wide variety of other equipment. Note: This sector includes generators that produce electricity and/or useful thermal output primarily to support the activities of the above-mentioned commercial establishments. Vehicle fuel and company use are not to be included in the commercial sector.

Industrial: An energy-consuming sector that consists of all facilities and equipment used for producing, processing, or assembling goods. The industrial sector encompasses the following types of activity: manufacturing; agriculture, forestry, and fisheries; mining, including oil and gas extraction; and construction. Overall energy use in this sector is largely for process heat and powering machinery, with lesser amounts used for facility heating. Natural gas is also used as raw material inputs to manufactured products. Note: This sector includes generators that produce electricity and/or useful thermal output primarily to support the above-mentioned industrial activities.

Electric power: An energy-consuming sector that consists of electricity-only plants and combined heat and power (CHP) plants, whose primary business is to sell electricity, or electricity and heat, to the public. Interdepartmental volumes used to fuel company-owned generation facilities should be classified as electric power.

Vehicle fuel: Natural gas, either compressed (CNG) or liquefied (LNG), that is consumed by motor vehicles. Interdepartmental volumes used to fuel company-owned fleets should be classified as vehicle fuel. CNG may be reported in thousand cubic feet (Mcf) or dekatherm conversion units.

Other (not included in above categories) Specify type: This category is only to be used for service provided directly to consumers for which you are uncertain of the correct category from among residential, commercial, industrial, and electric power. Please use the space provided to specify the type of delivery you report here.

9.0 Heat content of gas delivered to consumers (Btu/cf): The average annual heat content (Btu) should be computed by summing the total Btu delivered during the report year (volume delivered directly to consumers multiplied by average Btu content per unit volume) and dividing by the total volume delivered directly to consumers during that year. The value for heat content is expected to be in the range of 900 to 1200 Btu/cf.

If billing was on a volumetric basis and your company did not measure the Btu content, contact your supplier for the information.

10.0 Deliveries of natural gas that you own to end-use consumers within the report state: Report the average number of consumers served directly from your facilities during the year, the volumes sold and delivered to such consumers, and the revenues received in the appropriate category. Include deliveries directly to your company-owned commercial, industrial or electric power facilities.

How to Report on Type of Consumer on Form EIA-176

Master-metered apartments Residential

Mobile homes Residential

Multi-family dwellings, individually metered Residential

Single-family dwellings Residential

Churches and hospitals Commercial

Government (local, state and Federal) agencies Commercial

Hotels Commercial

Non-manufacturing military installations Commercial

Restaurants Commercial

Retail stores Commercial

Schools and universities Commercial

Wholesale stores Commercial

Agriculture, forestry and fisheries Industrial

Mining (including oil and gas extraction) Industrial

Manufacturing Industrial

Regulated electric utilities Electric

Power

Nonregulated electricity generators Electric

Power

The size of an operation does not affect consumer classification:

1. Large commercial operations should be classified as commercial, not industrial.

2. Small industrial operations should be classified as industrial, not commercial.

11.0 Deliveries of natural gas that you do not own to end-use consumers within the report state: Report the average number of consumers served directly from your facilities, volumes delivered to and revenues received for transportation of natural gas to those consumers for each end-use consumer category.

Notes: Pipeline companies are not required to provide revenue data for deliveries of gas that they do not own. If your company supplies LNG and/or CNG to retail outlets, report these volumes on line 11.5 as vehicle fuel.

12.0 Natural gas consumed in your operations: Report the volume of gas consumed as fuel in your company's operations: Space heat of your own facilities (12.1), new pipeline fill (12.2), pipeline distribution or storage compressor use (12.3), and other (specify type) (12.4) within the report state. Volume may represent your best estimate. Interdepartmental volumes used to fuel company-owned generation facilities or company-owned fleets should be classified as electric power or vehicle fuel, respectively.

13.0 If you are a storage operator, report operations within the state: Report the total volume added, regardless of ownership, to underground storage (including new fields) (13.1) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage additions (13.2) operated by your company within the report state.

For the volume reported on Line 13.1, include a corresponding entry on Part 4 (supply), most likely on Line 5.0, so that the net value of your storage activity’s supply and disposition is zero.

Please note, for Line 13.2 LNG storage injections - LNG import and export marine terminals should not report injections of LNG during the course of routine operations for handling imports and not held in storage for future use.

Please see the guide for LNG marine terminals for further guidance.

14.0 If you are an interstate pipeline company or other company moving gas across or to state lines or U.S. borders, report volumes transported: Report the name of the company, the adjacent state or country to which the gas was delivered, the means of transportation used to deliver gas (by pipeline, vessel, or truck), and the volume of gas delivered at the state line or U.S. border. For liquefied natural gas sales shipped by ship, truck, rail, or barge, consider the loading terminal a point on the state line or U.S. border. Report the name of the state or country to which the LNG was delivered, and describe the transaction by footnote in Part 7.

15.0 If you are a producer, report lease use: Report total volume of gas used in your company’s well, field, and/or lease operations.

16.0 Returned to oil and/or gas reservoirs, used for repressuring, reinjection (Reported by producers only): Report the volume of gas delivered directly from your system to oil or gas fields located within the report state for repressuring, pressure maintenance, and/or cycling operations.

17.0 Losses from leaks, damage, accidents, migration and/or blow down within the report state: Report known volumes as a result of losses from leaks, damage, accidents, migration and/or blow down within the report state these events took place. Indicate known and estimated losses from leaks encountered as a natural consequence of distribution activities. Volume may represent your best estimate.

18.0 Other disposition within report state (not included above): Report any disposition of gas not included in lines 10.1 through 17.0. Report disposition to distribution companies (18.1), other pipelines, (18.2), storage operators (18.3), and other (specify type) (18.4) within the report state. Please provide estimates of the volume involved, if not measured. If insufficient space is provided, continue on Part 7.

20.0 Difference between Supply (+) or Disposition (-) (Part 4 line 7.0 and Part 6 line 19.0): A positive entry indicates supply in excess of accounted for disposition and a negative entry (denoted by a minus sign preceding the entry) indicates accounted for disposition in excess of supply reported.

PART 7: FOOTNOTES

The Part 7 footnotes sheet is to be used, if needed, to provide explanatory notes for data reported on Parts 1 through 6. The footnotes will become a permanent part of the computer data file and thereby serve as an integral part of your report.

LNG MARINE TERMINALS REPORTING

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals should report the origin of natural gas imported, along with its ultimate destination, whether it is delivered to another pipeline, held in inventory, exported to a foreign country, or consumed during operations.

It is expected that volumes will be reported by LNG terminals on Lines 3.0 (imports), 5.0 (other receipts), 7.0 (total supply), 8.0 (inventory as of December 31 of the report year), 12.0 (volumes consumed in operations), 14.0 (exports to other countries or disposition to interstate pipelines), 18.0 (deliveries within the report state), 19.0 (total disposition), and 20.0 (difference between supply and disposition). Please account for prior year inventory (Line 8.0 of the prior year’s report) on Line 5.0 of the current year’s report. See Figure 1 for a graphic depiction showing specifically where gas should be recorded on the Form EIA-176.

Reported LNG Inventory: Current year inventory reported on Line 8.0 should equal, or be very close to, the difference between supply and disposition reported on Line 20.0.

Definitions

Consumer: Any individually-metered dwelling, building, establishment, or location using natural gas, synthetic natural gas, and/or mixtures of natural and supplemental gas for feedstock or as fuel for any purpose other than in oil or gas lease operations; natural gas treating or processing plants; or pipeline, distribution, or storage compressors.

Customer choice: The right of customers to purchase energy from a supplier other than their traditional supplier or from more than one seller in the retail market.

Delivered: The physical transfer of natural, synthetic, and/or supplemental gas from facilities operated by the responding company to facilities operated by others or to consumers.

Disposition: The removal of natural, synthetic, and/or supplemental gas, or any components or gaseous mixtures contained therein, from the responding company's facilities within the report state by any means or for any purpose including the transportation of such gas out of the report state.

Dry natural gas: Natural gas which remains after: 1) the liquefiable hydrocarbon portion has been removed from the gas stream (i.e., gas after lease, field, and/or plant separation); and 2) any volumes of nonhydrocarbon gases have been removed where they occur in sufficient quantity to render the gas unmarketable. Note: Dry natural gas is also known as consumer-grade natural gas. The parameters for measurement are cubic feet at 60 degrees Fahrenheit and 14.73 pounds per square inch absolute.

Gatherer: A company primarily engaged in the gathering of natural gas from well or field lines for delivery, for a fee, to a natural gas processing plant or central point. Gathering companies may also provide compression, dehydration, and/or treating services.

Lease operations: Any well, lease, or field operations related to the exploration for or production of natural gas prior to delivery for processing or transportation out of the field. Gas used in lease operations includes usage such as drilling operations, heaters, dehydrators, field compressors, and net used for gas lift.

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG): Natural gas (primarily methane) that has been liquefied by reducing its temperature to –260º Fahrenheit at atmospheric pressure.

Marine terminal: Point of import or export for tankers carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Maximum Daily Sendout Capacity: Maximum rate at which liquefied natural gas can be regasified and sent out from an LNG facility on a daily basis.

Mcf: 1,000 cubic feet.

Natural gas: A gaseous mixture of hydrocarbon compounds, the primary one being methane. Also see Dry natural gas and Wet natural gas.

Offshore: That geographic area that lies seaward of the coastline. In general, the coastline is the line of ordinary low water along with that portion of the coast that is in direct contact with the open sea or the line marking the seaward limit of inland water. If a state agency uses a different basis for classifying onshore and offshore areas, the state classification should be used (e.g., Cook Inlet in Alaska is classified as offshore; for Louisiana, the coastline is defined as the Chapman Line, as modified by subsequent adjudication).

Operator: The company responsible for the management and day-to-day operations of natural gas production, gathering, treating, processing, transportation, storage, distribution facilities, and/or a synthetic natural gas plant.

Pipeline: A continuous pipe conduit, complete with such equipment as valves, compressor stations, communication systems, and meters for transporting natural and/or supplemental gas from one point to another, usually from a point on or beyond the producing field or processing plant to another pipeline or to points of utilization. Also refers to a company operating such facilities.

Producer: A company engaged in the production and sale of natural gas from gas or oil wells with delivery generally at a point at or near the wellhead, the field, or the tailgate of a gas processing plant. For the purpose of company classification, a company primarily engaged in the exploration for, development of, and/or production of oil and/or natural gas.

Received: Gas physically transferred into the responding company’s transportation, storage, and/or distribution facilities.

Supplemental gas: Any gaseous substance introduced into or commingled with natural gas that increases the volume available for disposition. Such substances include, but are not limited to, propane-air, refinery gas, coke oven gas, still gas, manufactured gas, biomass gas, or air or inerts added for Btu stabilization.

Supply: Natural, synthetic, and supplemental gas produced within, introduced into, and/or received into facilities operated by the responding company within the report state for disposition during the report year.

Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG) (Also referred to as substitute natural gas): A manufactured product, chemically similar in most respects to natural gas, resulting from the conversion or reforming of hydrocarbons that may easily be substituted for or interchanged with pipeline-quality natural gas.

Underground storage: The storage of natural gas in underground reservoirs at a different location from which it was produced.

Wet natural gas: A mixture of hydrocarbon compounds and small quantities of various nonhydrocarbons existing in the gaseous phase or in solution with crude oil in porous rock formations at reservoir conditions. The principal hydrocarbons normally contained in the mixture are methane, ethane, propane, butane, and pentane. Typical nonhydrocarbon gases that may be present in reservoir natural gas are water vapor, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen and trace amounts of helium. Under reservoir conditions, natural gas and its associated liquefiable portions occur either in a single gaseous phase in the reservoir or in solution with crude oil and are not distinguishable at the time as separate substances. Note: The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Accounting Standards Board refer to this product as Natural gas.

DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION

Information reported on Form EIA-176 is considered public information and may be publicly released in company or individually identifiable form.

SANCTIONS

The timely submission of Form EIA-176 by those required to report is mandatory under Section 13(b) of the Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974 (FEA ACT) (Public Law 93 275), as amended. Failure to respond may result in a civil penalty of not more than $2,750 each day for each violation, or a fine of not more than $5,000 each day for each willful violation. The government may bring a civil action to prohibit reporting violations, which may result in a temporary restraining order or a preliminary or permanent injunction without bond. In such civil action, the court may also issue mandatory injunction commanding any person to comply with these reporting requirements.

FILING FORMS WITH FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND ESTIMATED REPORTING BURDEN

Respondents are not required to file or reply to any Federal collection of information unless it has a valid OMB control number. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 12 hours per response, including the time of reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information including suggestions for reducing this burden to: Energy Information Administration, Office of Survey Development and Statistical Integration, EI-21, 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20585; and to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC 20503.

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