EIA-877 New Respondents Welcome Letter

August 29, 2016

Dear EIA-877 Respondent:

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is conducting the EIA-877, "Winter Heating Fuels Telephone Survey." Your company was selected for participation in this weekly survey. During October 2016 through March 2017, it is essential for you to respond to this survey each Monday (Tuesday if Monday is a holiday) in order for EIA to prepare accurate and timely reports.

The data collected through the State Heating Oil and Propane Program (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. 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 and the Winter Heating Fuels page on EIA’s website.

An EIA or state energy office representative will call you for your residential price information on a weekly basis (Monday, or Tuesday if Monday is a holiday) from October 3, 2016 through March 27, 2017. EIA requests that you report the residential market price (credit/keep-full prices being preferred) for No. 2 heating oil and/or propane and that all prices exclude taxes. Prices should not include discounts for payment of cash or for payment made within a short period of time. An EIA or state office representative will be contacting you prior to October 3, 2016, to set up reporting schedules and identify proper contact persons.

Your 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,

                                                                                                          

                                                                                     Tammy Heppner

Team Lead
Office of Petroleum and Biofuels Statistics

U.S. Energy Information Administration