Please Let EIA Hear from You
Stan Kaplan has worked in the power and fuels areas since 1978 as a consultant, regulator, utility fuel manager, and for the federal government. He is currently Director of the Office of Electricity, Renewables and Uranium Statistics at the U.S. EIA.
April Lee is a Senior Electricity Analyst at EIA focusing on RTO markets. She helped launch EIA’s near real-time reporting of hourly balancing authority load data across the lower 48 states and is also a specialist in data visualization.
Jim Diefenderfer has worked in the electricity industry since 1981 in power plant engineering and maintenance, integrated resource planning, and electric system operations, as a consultant, and for the federal government. He is currently Director of the Office of Electricity, Coal, Nuclear, and Renewables Analysis at the U.S. EIA.
EIA is seeking to enhance its electricity data program. This article explains why and asks readers to give us input.
Most readers of PUF are familiar with the U.S. Energy Information Administration. EIA was created as part of the new Department of Energy in 1978. The context was the upheavals in the oil, natural gas, and coal markets of the 1970s. Energy policy was controversial and crisis-oriented.
The government and the public needed comprehensive, authoritative energy data. And the data needed to be trustworthy, in all respects, so Congress made EIA independent from DOE regarding the content of its data and analytical reports. EIA takes pride in being policy neutral and non-partisan.
Why Electricity?
A primary focus of EIA throughout its history has, of course, been the oil and gas markets. This reflects the legacy of the 1973 and 1979 oil crises, and the continued central role of oil and gas in the economy, international relations, and the daily lives of Americans.