Copyright 2000 eMediaMillWorks, Inc.
(f/k/a Federal
Document Clearing House, Inc.)
Federal Document Clearing House
Congressional Testimony
March 22, 2000, Wednesday
SECTION: CAPITOL HILL HEARING TESTIMONY
LENGTH: 9480 words
HEADLINE:
TESTIMONY March 22, 2000 JAY E. HAKES ADMINISTRATOR DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS INTERIOR INTERIOR APPROPS
BODY:
Statement of Jay E. Hakes Administrator,
Energy Information Administration Department of Energy before the House
Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies
Hearing on the FY 2001 Energy Information Administration Budget Request March
22, 2000 Mr. Chairman, and members of the Subcommittee, it is a pleasure to
appear before you today to discuss the Energy Information Administration's FY
2001 budget request. THE IMPORTANCE OF ENERGY INFORMATION Nothing better
demonstrates the value of accurate, timely energy data than a volatile oil
market. World oil prices have almost tripled over the last year, following the
cutback accord between OPEC and non-OPEC producers, recently reaching levels
last seen during the Persian Gulf War. Consumers are experiencing significantly
higher product prices, with some sharp price spikes particularly in the
Northeast due to severe winter weather and low inventory levels. Not
surprisingly, these events have resulted in a high demand for data and analysis
from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Our National Energy
Information Center has experienced a 40 percent increase in calls from
congressional offices, the press, industry, and the general public. At public
meetings on oil prices', many participants have sought credible information to
explain a complex market. EIA is responding to this need in several ways.
Following two seasons of mild winters, severe winter weather in the middle of
January caused problems for suppliers and consumers in the Northeast. As a
result, a sudden increase in demand for heating fuels met with lower than
average inventories and fuel deliverability problems sent prices sky rocketing.
The largest increase occurred in heating oil where New York Harbor spot prices
ranged from 76.15 cents per gallon on January 14 to $1.765 on February 4.
Residential heating oil prices almost doubled, and diesel prices rose over 50
percent in the New England and Mid- Atlantic areas. As prices rose, the EIA
Administrator conducted numerous briefings for members of Congress and their
staff explaining the reasons behind the market volatility. Testimony was
prepared and given to the House International Relations Committee, the Senate
Energy and Natural Resources Committee, as well as the New York State Assembly
in Albany, NY. Special background papers and materials were prepared for the
Secretary of Energy and the White House. I also made a presentation at the
Heating Oil Summit held in Boston. The Summit, arranged by the Secretary of
Energy, brought together industry, State, and Federal officials, as well as
consumer groups to discuss possible solutions to the heating oil crisis. In
addition to the briefings and testimonies, EIA, per request of the Secretary,
began collection of residential heating oil and propane prices on a weekly
basis, increasing the frequency from the normal bimonthly cycle. During this
period, EIA staff conducted weekly conference calls with Northeast State Energy
Offices, Public Service Commissions, and Industry Associations. EIA provided
residential price data to the Department of Health and Human Services and the
Office of Management and Budget, aiding these agencies in allocating Low Income
Housing Energy Assistance Program funds to those States hardest hit by the price
increase. Lastly, EIA prepared press briefings, releases, and special reports
which were posted on its web site dedicated to dealing with this special topic.
Unique user sessions of EIA's Web site, running at 5,120 a day six months ago,
have in recent days jumped to 3 5,000 a day. EIA is actively involved in
monitoring market activity, handling inquiries from the public, and conducting
inter-views with the press. Policy makers, industry, and the general public all
need good energy data on a regular basis, but the need becomes more apparent and
more difficult when the markets are in turmoil. We believe EIA does an excellent
job of meeting the needs of its customers, but we do face some future challenges
to maintain the quality and reliability of energy data expected of EIA. PROGRAM
FUNCTIONS EIA is the leader in providing high-quality, policy-independent energy
information to Government, industry, and the public, in a manner that promotes
sound policy decisions, efficient markets, and public understanding. EIA was
established by Congress as an unbiased source of energy information and
analysis. While an integral part of the Department of Energy, EIA is mandated to
maintain a policy-neutral position. In accordance with Section 205 of the
Department of Energy Organization Act, EIA collects, interprets, analyzes, and
disseminates information on energy reserves, production, consumption,
distribution, prices, technology, and related international, economic, and
energy financial matters. EIA produces reports with statistical time series,
projections of near- and mid-term future energy trends, and analyses of topical
energy issues. On a reimbursable basis, EIA provides custom energy data,
analyses, and data processing support to other Department of Energy offices and
other federal agencies. The National Energy Information System contains the
operational elements of EIA. The Oil and Gas program develops, operates, and
maintains the statistical information systems for the collection, processing,
and analysis of data on petroleum and natural gas reserves, production,
refining, distribution, marketing, and prices. The Coal, Nuclear, Electric, and
Alternate Fuels program performs statistical and analytical functions for its
respective fuels' markets. The Energy Markets and End Use program maintains
energy statistical information systems and analyses for energy end use, price,
supply and demand balances, and economic, international, and energy financial
matters. The Integrated Analysis and Forecasting program produce mid-term
forecasts and analyses for domestic and international energy markets and
implements the greenhouse gases program. The Information Technology program
provides computer services and information technology coordination for EIA and
other Departmental users. The National Energy Information Center performs
dissemination activities for all EIA information products. The Statistics and
Methods program provides coherent and credible strategies for information
collection, processing, documentation, and dissemination. The Resource
Management program provides agency financial, human resource, and logistics
management and funds general overhead costs. EIA'S FY 2001 BUDGET REQUEST EIA's
FY 2001 Congressional budget request is $75.0 million. This request is $2.6
million over our FY 2000 appropriation of $72.4 million. With this budget, EIA
intends to continue our base progran-4 enhance international analysis
capabilities, begin work associated with assuring the accuracy and reliability
of several energy data systems, continue overhauling several survey frames and
data systems, and seek further efficiency gains through the use of information
processing and communications technologies. In FY 2001, EIA s base program will
consist of the maintenance of a comprehensive energy database, the dissemination
of energy data and analyses for a wide variety of customers in the public and
private sectors, the maintenance of the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS)
for midterm energy markets analysis and forecasting, the maintenance of the
Short-Term Integrated Forecasting System for near-term energy market analysis
and forecasting, customer forums and surveys to maintain an up-to- date product
and service mix, and the continued expansion of electronic information
dissemination via the EIA Web site and CD- ROM. For FY 2001, EIA will
concentrate on five areas critical to the quality and reliability of this
nation's energy data system: First, the overhaul of the energy consumption
surveys needs to continue. EIA consumption surveys are the Nation's most
comprehensive source of data on energy use in the major sectors of the United
States' economy. These surveys are now operating on a 20-year-old base, well
beyond the normal 10-year fife cycle. Begun in FY 2000, a multi-year effort was
initiated to redesign these aging survey and data systems to realign them with
the distribution of residential and commercial building populations as indicated
by the 2000 census. EIA anticipates this project will take three additional
years, after which the updated sample design, survey frames, and data systems
will be fully implemented for the residential, commercial building, and
manufacturing sectors. In addition, with the increasing importance of
consumer-based data, it is critical to maintain the quality of the data from
these surveys. Starting with FY 2001, EIA will need a permanent addition of $550
thousand to operate the consumption surveys to offset unavoidable increases in
survey costs due to: (1) the tight labor market for survey field workers; (2)
the increasing amount of work needed to keep survey response rates high with
respondents increasingly more difficult to reach and more resistant to
completing surveys; and (3) the increasing complexity in obtaining data from the
restructuring natural gas and electric industries. Second, EIA is engaged in a
multi-year effort to overhaul the surveys and the data systems used to gather
information from this nations restructuring of electricity generation and
distribution. EIA estimates the FY 2001 and next year's costs for the overhaul
of the electricity surveys to be $1.0 million for each year. To date EIA is on
schedule with this effort, and plans to complete this endeavor in FY 2002 with
the full implementation of the overhauled electricity data collection and
reporting systems. Third, EIA s ability to provide data and information on the
natural gas industry has been severely challenged by changes in the regulatory
environment and corresponding industry restructuring- Over the past several
years, coverage of the industrial and commercial usage has declined. For
example, by FY 1998, industrial price information for only 15 percent of the gas
used by industrial customers was captured by EIA surveys, down from 75 percent
coverage in FY 1984. Furthermore, coverage in the commercial areas dropped from
more than 90 percent in FY 1987 to about 65 percent in FY 1998. With a move
toward more competition at the retail level for residential and small commercial
customers, coverage of the prices paid could be substantially reduced from the
nearly 100 percent level of coverage we currently have. In addition, there are
major segments of activity relating to prices and volumes for which no
information is collected by EIA, such as the cost of underground storage, the
cost of transportation, and price and physical transactions at market centers
and market hubs. To provide better and more market oriented data, EIA is engaged
in a multi-year overhaul of the natural gas data collection and data systems.
EIA plans completion of this effort by January 1, 2003 with portions of the
project becoming operational as soon as January 1, 2001. For FY 2001, EIA
estimates the cost to continue the overhaul of the natural gas surveys and data
systems to be $800 thousand. Starting with FY 2001, EIA is requesting a
permanent increase of $175 thousand to provide the funding needed to address
natural gas industry frames' (the universe of potential respondents)
maintenance. With changes in the natural gas industry, maintaining frames for
the existing populations has become increasingly difficult. This difficulty
results from the new corporate entities being formed to market natural gas, as
well as merger and consolidation activity in the industry. In addition,
corporate downsizing and staff turnover in the industry has also increased the
effort required of EIA to track changes in the industry. Current EIA resources
are not adequate to monitor the changing structure and rapidly changing market
participants. Fourth, requests for EIA to conduct carbon analyses and produce
projections on the international level continue to increase. Currently, EIA's
international modeling capability is unable to assess the economic consequences
on the United States of energy- related compliance options, commitments, and
actions of foreign countries. EIA does not have the policy analysis
capabilities, or the capability to represent emissions trading between countries
and/or regions. Started during FY 1999, EIA has a multi-year project to acquire
the needed international modeling capability, develop a framework for the
modeling of international permit trading schemes using this capability, and
ensure consistency with the U.S. projections from the NEMS. EIA plans to
complete this initiative following an additional two years of effort, at which
time EIA will be in the position to provide reliable analysis and projections on
international policies. In FY 2001, EIA will develop a preliminary version of
the model, System for Analysis of Global Energy Markets, based on the project
requirements as defined in EIA's Report: "Design and Development Plan for the
System for Analysis of Global Energy Markets." Also, in FY 2001, EIA will use
this preliminary model to produce the forecasts for the International Energy
Outlook 2001. The model methodologies will be enhanced over the next two fiscal
years to represent the critical areas of regulation, technological improvement,
and international carbon permit trading. Fifth, without additional resources EIA
has consistently maintained the scope and breadth of energy information and
analyses capabilities to meet customer requests. To accomplish this, EIA has
postponed required maintenance and updates on many of our survey and energy data
systems. Of particular concern are five EIA petroleum and natural gas survey and
data systems as identified and discussed in our budget request. To reverse this
deterioration in energy data quality, and to maintain relevance of the data, EIA
must apply additional resources to address known data quality issues and
redesign these energy surveys and energy data support systems. Two notable
examples, included in our FY 2001 budget request, which recent events emphasize
the importance of are: Weekly/Monthly Petroleum Supply - The petroleum supply
and demand data being released by the EIA from its weekly and monthly reporting
systems for the major products, including motor gasoline and
jet fuel, is deteriorating. This problem is the result of a long, slow
deterioration in the quality of the data reported to the EIA that could not be
fully analyzed and corrected by EIA with the current level of contractor and
government resources. There is no current budget for this long- term quality
control work and the government staff is fully committed to resolving the
current cycle data problems to assure weekly and monthly information is released
on schedule. Fixing these issues is a long-term commitment that will require an
initial funding level of $300,000 in FY2001. However, additional funding in
follow on years will be necessary to prevent further deterioration once the
initial problems are solved. Petroleum Forms Changes to Maintain Relevance -
Environmental regulatory changes mandated under the Clean Air Act Amendments of
1990 are entering a new phase, referred to as Tier 11. These changes include new
standards for low sulfur gasoline, national versus regional
standards, low sulfur diesel, and other diesel specification
changes. In addition, environmental concerns over the use of ethers in
gasoline, particularly MTBE, are leading to discussions of a
ban on this significant gasoline component. All these changes
will profoundly affect the structure of the petroleum industry- and necessitate
changes in our reporting system as early as 2002. An additional $400,000 is
required in FY 2001 funding to analyze the impact of these regulatory changes,
modify survey reporting forms, and change computer systems employed to aggregate
and disseminate this energy data. PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS EIA's information and
analyses are often sought prior to legislative action. For example, in my role
as EIA's Administrator I was asked to testify before Congress 12 times since the
start of the past calendar year. My testimonies covered a number of diverse
energy issues, such as crude oil prices, petroleum corporation mergers, natural
gas demand, supply and transportation, carbon. emissions and the impact of the
Kyoto Treaty, greenhouse gas reporting, fuels for the future, and the potential
impact on electricity consumption resulting from the explosive growth of
personnel computers and Internet usage. In the petroleum area, EIA prepared
testimonies for the Senate and House dealing with the low prices of crude oil
and petroleum products, as well as the impacts of corporate mergers which
occurred during 1998 and 1999. For example, testimony was prepared and given to
the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the House Ways and Means
Committee on low crude oil prices. Later, I presented testimony on the impacts
of mergers between Exxon and Mobil, as well as BP-Amoco PLC and the Atlantic
Richfield Company (ARCO) to the House Committee on Commerce (Subcommittee on
Energy and Power), and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. EIA
prepared briefings and reports for the White House, Congressional staff and the
Secretary of Energy. Topics dealt with crude oil and gasoline
prices, domestic crude outlook, as well as global supply and demand for
petroleum. Materials were also prepared for the Secretary of Energy for his
attendance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. EIA staff were
involved in making presentations at conferences and meetings outlining the
availability of petroleum data, the quality of the data, changes in petroleum
market trends, and the outlook of heating fuels for the upcoming heating season.
EIA worked closely with agencies such as the General Accounting Office and the
International Energy Agency in addressing the "Missing Barrels" issues. EIA
staff also participated in National Petroleum Council studies covering product
inventories and deliverability, including the impact of pending environmental
regulations, and the potential for a nearly 50 percent expansion of the natural
gas market by 2015. In May 1, 1999, EIA signed a cooperative agreement with the
National Association of State Energy Officials to further encourage data
exchange and information sharing with State agencies. As a result, two data
workshops were held in Chicago, IL and San Francisco, CA on the use and
interpretation of EIA data and how to better access the data from EIA s web
site. In addition to the workshops, EIA sponsored the State Heating Oil and
Propane Conference and the Winter Fuels Conference. In addition in 1999, EIA
presented testimony before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on
anticipated demand for natural gas in the Northeastern United States as part of
their fact finding into the need for additional pipeline capacity into the
Northeast States. EIA completed a major study of developments in the natural gas
industry, presented in "Natural Gas 1998: Issues and Trends." The separate
chapters of this document, containing in-depth analysis of developments in the
industry and updates on major trends, were posted on the EIA Web site promoting
the availability of timely and up-to-date information. EIA completed an
Information Requirements Report for natural gas, a summary of requirements
developed in discussions with users and providers of natural gas information.
This document will be used throughout the process of redesigning natural gas
survey and information products and will be further refined in continuing
discussions with users and respondents. As more States move toward or examine
"retail choice" for natural gas residential and commercial consumers,
information on these State programs and the impact of the programs is needed by
consumers and the industry to understand the changes in the market and how it
will affect them. EJA now has a Web page dedicated to providing the specific
information on State programs. During 1999, EIA revised some of its natural gas
forms to better reflect the changed market conditions, and reduce reporting
burden. During 1999, EIA initiated its Electricity 2002 Project to redesign the
electric power data collection forms employed to analyze the industry. The
project has included consultation with over a dozen stakeholder organizations to
obtain their views and data requirement needs. Once new forms are designed in
2000, further consultations will take place with the industry to ensure the
appropriate information can and will be supplied. EIA published two reports
entitled "The Changing Structure of the Electric Power Industry: Selected
Issues, 1998" and "The Changing Structure of the Electric Power Industry, 1999:
Mergers and Other Corporate Combinations" in additional efforts to provide the
Congress, the Executive Branch and industry with information about how and why
the electric power industry is evolving. On a monthly basis EIA has updated our
Internet site with information on electric industry restructuring taking placed
in each State. This State information is supplemented with additional material
in State Electricity Profiles, which contains graphics, tables and text
explaining how each State's electric power industry has evolved over time. EIA
continued to prepare reports and briefings on issues related to climate change.
On March 25, 1999, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources held a
hearing on the Kyoto Treaty during which EIA testified on our analysis of the
impacts of the treaty on U.S. energy markets and economic activity. The Chairman
and ranking minority members. of the House Committee on Science requested two
service reports related to climate change. The first was an analysis of the
Climate Change Technology Initiative, released at a hearing of the Committee on
April 14, 1999. The second report presented an analysis of an early start date
to the Kyoto Protocol, and was released in July. On July 15, 1999, EIA testified
on its Voluntary Reporting Program for Greenhouse Gases before the House
Government Reform Committee, providing background on the program and discussing
emissions accounting issues. In June 1999, EIA was requested by Energy Secretary
Richardson to do a modeling comparison study relating to the Comprehensive
Electricity Competition Act. Specifically, EIA was requested to use the National
Energy Modeling System and the assumptions specified by the DOE Policy Office to
compare the results against those obtained by the Policy Office using their
Electricity Modeling System. The study showed the results of the two models to
be similar and concluded that the assumptions, not the models, were the main
drivers of the results. In May 1999, EIA was asked by the DOE Policy Office to
update its 1992 study on Federal energy subsidies using a definition that the
subsidy must result in a financial benefit and be specific to energy. This
request, the first of two, covered primary energy only. In September, EIA
released the report entitled, "Federal Financial Interventions and Subsidies in
Energy Markets 1999: Primary Energy," which show that subsidies for primary
energy have declined since 1992. EIA completed the first phase of its multi-year
project on developing an international modeling capability to assess trading of
international carbon permits. The new model, entitled System Analysis for Global
Energy markets, has gone through a requirements analysis and design phase with
both the requirements document and the design document reviewed and critiqued by
outside reviewers and a panel of experts from EIA's independent expert review
program. The project is now in its implementation stage with the first milestone
being a version of the model scheduled to produce the forecasts for the
"International Energy Outlook 2001." Of special note, EIA's Web site has won
several awards for quality and content. Most recently, EIA's Web site was
selected by Government Executive magazine as one of the best sixteen Federal Web
sites for 1999, from 120 nominated Federal web sites. In the announcement of the
winners, Government Executive stated, "EIA is a tiny agency, so the
comprehensiveness of its site - and its ease of navigation - amazed the judges.
Everyone who works in the energy industry is well-served by this site." EIA also
was commended for making full use of the power of e-mail by featuring e-mail
notification lists for more than 30 different energy subjects. In October 1998,
the Energy Information Administration won the Energy Quality Achievement Award.
The achievement award is the second highest quality award given out in the U.S.
Department of Energy. EIA is only the second federal organization to win this
award and the first ever at headquarters. The quality achievement award
recognizes "a sound, systematic approach to quality management, a fact-based
improvement process in place in key areas, and no evidence of major gaps in
deployment." Improvement trends or good performances are reported for most areas
of importance. PROGRAM IMPROVEMENTS The 1999 Commercial Buildings Energy
Consumption Survey is currently in the field. This cycle of the Survey
incorporates two major changes in methods from previous cycles. First, data
collection of building characteristics is by Computer-Assisted Telephone
Interviewing with a sample of previously-surveyed buildings, using the Blaise
computer data collection/editing/case management software package which was used
very successfully on the 1997 Residential Energy Consumption Survey. Second, for
the first time, energy consumption and expenditures data are being collected
from building respondents wherever possible, rather than their energy suppliers.
This latter change is a first attempt to respond to complications in energy data
collection that are resulting from the restructuring and resultant
diversification of the natural gas and electricity industries. Fieldwork is
complete and data processing is underway for the 1998 Manufacturing Energy
Consumption Survey. Cognitive research, both pre- and post-fieldwork, indicate
the new questionnaire design was received quite favorably by respondents.
Industry coverage for the 1998 survey has also been redesigned so data can be
produced for industries in both the Standard Industrial Classification and the
new North American Industry Classification systems. The Short-Term Energy Model
was successfully updated and posted to EIA's Web site on schedule each month in
1999. This model has become an increasingly important tool in the monthly
analysis of energy markets. The model grew in popularity in 1999; visits to the
model download page increased from 350 to 800 per month between 1997 and 1998,
and above 860 per month in 1999. EIA continues to accelerate the release of
energy information. For example, the reference case forecast for the Annual
Energy Outlook 2000 was released on November 9, 1999, a week earlier than last
year and the International Energy Outlook 1999 reference case was released on
EIA's Web site on March 31, 1999, 3 weeks earlier than the previous year.
Operationally, EIA reduced its cycle time for the release of the data base for
the Voluntary Report of Greenhouse Gases by 7 months by screening and processing
two years of voluntary reporting data for greenhouse gas emissions while
increasing the number of reporters to the voluntary program by 32 percent. In
the area of electric power, the "Electric Sales and Revenue, 1998" was published
18 days earlier than the previous year and 68 days (20 percent) earlier than two
years ago. The "Inventory of Electric Utility Power Plants, 1998" was published
67 days earlier than 1997 data and 109 days (26 percent) earlier than the 1996
edition. The "Electric Power Annual Volume 1, 1998" was redesigned and released
37 days (16 percent) earlier than the 1997 publication. The "Electric Power
Annual Volume 11, 1998 " was published 72 days (I 7 percent) earlier than the
1996 edition. The "Financial Statistics of Major U.S. Publicly Owned Electric
Utilities, 1998" was released 103 days (23 percent) sooner that the 1996
edition. Overall, over the past two years, the average cycle time for annual
electric power data report has been reduced from 367 days to 311 days, a 15
percent improvement. In 1999 EIA conducted its 5' annual telephone customers'
satisfaction survey, asking customers to rate their overall satisfaction with
five attributes of customer service (courtesy, promptness, accessibility,
knowledge of the material, and ability to understand customer needs) and on five
attributes of product quality (availability, relevance, accuracy,
comprehensiveness, and timeliness). As in previous years, customer satisfaction
was very high (86 percent or above, and in many cases in the mid-90 percent).
Customers continued to tell EIA that accuracy is the most important attribute.
Fully 92 percent of the telephone customers also used EINs Web site in the past
year. Customer feedback from this survey helped EIA make decisions not to
implement a toll-free telephone number or a fax-on-demand system, as a majority
of customers said they wouldn't use or did nt need this service. In 1999 EIA
began to plan for a new type of telephone customer survey, using an automated
telephone system to administer the survey. Customers who call EIA would be asked
by an information Specialists if they would be willing to participate in a short
survey and then would be transferred to the recorded questionnaire. Using this
technique will allow EIA to free up staff resources (the volunteer interviewers)
who currently administer the survey on the telephone. Also, by automating the
process, we hope to collect responses from a much larger number of customers,
which will improve the reliability of the results. The current plan is to field
this automated survey in March-May 2000. During 1999 EIA undertook a major
effort to redesign its Web site to be more user-friendly. While our site has won
many awards and has a growing number of users, our customer calls and e-mails
tell us where we have room to improve. In summer 1999, EIA staff trained in
cognitive interviewing techniques conducted a series of intensive, one-on-one
tests with Web site users to determine how easy it was to find information on
our site and how we could make our information more accessible. Based on
information from these interviews, continuous feedback from customers and staff,
and extensive discussions at Web development meetings, EIA is now considering
options for a new home page and a redesign of the overall site architecture. Any
changes will be tested by EIA customers to assure the high levels of usability
are demonstrated before EIA implements our next generation Web site. EIA opened
a children' s Web site in the spring of 1999. As an initiative of the Energy
Industry Studies Program, the site profiles the major energy resource in words,
numbers, and pictures and offers virtual visits to energy installations and an
energy quiz. The site has become a popular source of energy information, as
witnessed by more than 7000 visitors from across the country each month. Over
the past several years, EIA has engaged in a number of activities which have
resulted in avoiding out year administrative cost increases. For example, from
FY 1994 though FY 1999 EIA has engaged in consolidating and renovating office
space. To date, an estimated $1.1 million in annual occupancy costs have been
avoided. With the implementation of a revised paper records disposition, EIA is
avoiding $9,000 in annual storage costs. With the expanded use of electronic
dissemination of energy data, production of printed publications has been
reduced, avoiding approximately $500 thousand in annual printing costs. ETA
continues to increase the use of its Omnibus Procurement, awarded in 1997. To
date, 53 percent of all tasks are firm-fixed price, which is significantly
better than the 10 percent goal of firm-fixed price tasks established in 1997.
Firm- fixed price contracts have a major advantage. When the task is completed,
the final cost of the task is known. This eliminates the possibility of
labor-rate or other "adjustments" which traditionally increased the costs of
contracts. Although determining an exact cost avoidance value is not possible,
estimates suggest ETA is avoiding $ 1 00 to $200 thousand of additional contract
costs annually through the increased use of firm-fixed price tasking.
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS ETA's mission is to produce energy information that
promotes sound policymaking, efficient markets, and public understanding. To
evaluate our level of accomplishment in fulfilling our mission, ETA was one of
the first government agencies to develop and implement performance measures. The
performance information collected on these measures is continuously provided to
managers and decision makers to ensure ETA is tracking those items most
important to fulfilling our mission, and that we are providing the highest level
of service and maintaining the highest quality of energy information and
products possible. To further emphasize the importance of quality performance,
ETA performance measures are directly tied to goals in our strategic plan. We
measure the level of achievement of our intended outcomes by evaluating product
usage, timeliness, accuracy, customer satisfaction levels, and employee
satisfaction levels. ETA tracks product usage levels in many ways: The number of
Web site file downloads; the number of unique customers and the products they
use; the number of Listsery recipients (Listsery is an automated e-mail to
recipients who sign up for an alert of new energy information releases); the
number of telephone inquiries; the number of media citations, and the number of
publications mailed out to customers, are some of the measures employed. ETA
continues to engage in an aggressive program to expand the availability of
electronic information, upgrade energy data dissemination, and enhance coverage
of energy information issues in the news media. This increased use of electronic
technology (Internet, CD-ROM, etc. for energy data dissemination has led to an
explosive growth in the number of customers for our data, as well as increased
the breadth of information distributed. Of note, during 1997, ETA set a goal to
increase the average number of unique monthly users of its Web site by 20
percent annually, from a baseline of 37,000 users sessions. Between 1996 and
1997 the growth in usage was 180 percent. By the end of 1997, ETA exceeded the
goal with an average of 71,500 user sessions. By the end of 1998, ETA averaged
87,000 user sessions, again exceeding the goal. For 1999, EIA averaged 163,600
monthly user sessions, an increase of more than 64.7 percent over the 1998
average. For December 1999, EIA was witnessing about 200,000 user sessions. By
the end of January 2000, EIA saw nearly 244 thousand unique user sessions. For
1999, information downloaded from the EIA Web site averaged 94 gigabytes per
month, or about 1.13 terabytes (that's 1,000 gigabytes) of energy information
for the year. For December 1999, 1.4 million files were downloaded. This
represents a 76 percent increase when compared to December 1998. In perspective,
EIA witnessed a 363 percent increase in its Web site usage between the first
quarter of 1997 and the last quarter of 1999. These Web site usage data evidence
how EIA energy information and analyses are reaching a much larger audience. One
result of the increase in the electronic availability of our information has
been a dramatic increase in the number of customers contacting the National
Energy Information Center for on- line support. For example, e-mail traffic is
up nearly 114 percent for the period between 1998 and 1999. Another result of
our expanded use of electronic dissemination is a 35 percent reduction in the
number of paper publications and a 50 percent reduction in publication printing
costs since 1994. EIA has dramatically increased the distribution of its
information by becoming the dependable source of objective energy information
for the news media. This has enabled our energy data to be widely use by the
general public with minimal cost to the agency. In addition to the steady growth
in media use of EIA information, public concerns about price volatility in the
gasoline and heating oil markets led to the increases in media
citations in the spring of 1996, the winter of 1997, and the fall and winter of
1998-1999. In perspective, in 1991 EIA averaged just under I 00 media citations
per quarter. For 1999, EIA averaged just under 800 media citations per month, an
800 percent increase. Another example of outcomes and impact, is the number of
copies of EIA's recent brochure "Why Do Natural Gas Prices Fluctuate So Much'
being requested by natural gas companies for distribution to their customers.
These natural gas compardes see this brochure as an excellent way to explain to
their customers why natural gas prices fluctuate. In addition, natural gas
companies can note that this information was prepared by a non-biased source. Of
special note, EIA's "Survey of Publication Subscribers" and the accompanying
cover letter were printed in their entirety as examples of excellence in survey
practices in the recently published book, "Mail and Internet Surveys," by Dr.
Don DiUman, a leading expert in the survey field. Being recognized in a book of
this caliber, by an author who has been a survey consultant to the highest
levels of government and private industry for more than 20 years, reflects the
high quality of EIA's customer survey work. Mr. Chairman, and members of the
Subcommittee, this completes my prepared statement. I would be happy to answer
any questions you may have at this time.
LOAD-DATE:
March 28, 2000, Tuesday 
