EIA-878 Nonresponse Letter

Month Day, Year

STATION MANAGER

STATION NAME

STATION ADDRESS

CITY, STATE ZIP5-ZIP4

Dear Station Manager,

According to our records, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has not received your retail [insert either gasoline or diesel] price data for reference weeks XXXX. My staff’s repeated efforts to obtain this readily available, mandatory price information from your station have been unsuccessful. I am writing to ask that you take immediate steps to begin providing this important data starting on Monday.

Your responsibility to accurately and timely report on [Insert either Form EIA-878, Motor Gasoline Price Survey, or Form EIA-888, On-Highway Diesel Fuel Price Survey] is mandatory, pursuant to 15 U.S.C. 764(b), 772(b), and 790a of the Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974. Continued noncompliance may result in civil penalties or fines, as stated in the “Sanctions” section of the form’s instructions [Insert either http://www.eia.gov/survey/form/eia_878/instructions.pdf or https://www.eia.gov/survey/form/eia_888/instructions.pdf ). Please also be assured that the information you provide is confidential and will be used for statistical purposes only. Moreover, as stated in the Sanctions section of the form’s instructions [Insert either http://www.eia.gov/survey/form/eia_878/instructions.pdf or https://www.eia.gov/survey/form/eia_888/instructions.pdf ), your company’s continued noncompliance may result in civil penalties or fines.

The data collected from Form EIA-[878/888] are used to calculate average weekly [gasoline/diesel] prices at the national, regional, and select state and city levels across all gasoline grades and formulations and are widely used to inform the public and policymakers. The price information you provide is confidential and will be used for statistical purposes only.

My staff will call and request your cash pump prices for [Insert regular, midgrade, and premium gasoline or on-highway diesel fuel] as of 8:00 a.m. every Monday. For Federal holidays falling on a Monday, you will be contacted on Tuesday instead for prices as of 8:00 a.m. Monday. We also offer other options for you to report if you prefer to not get a call each Monday morning, which include:

• Web Survey – Go to https://eiasurveys.rti.org/ and login using your PIN

• You Call EIA – Call 877-267-2879 to report prices

• Email – Send an email with your Station ID to eia_survey@rti.org

• Text – Send a text message with your Station ID to 919-816-2166

• Fax – Fax prices with your Station ID to 919-541-8812

I hope you now realize the importance of your station’s timely reporting to EIA every Monday starting next week. If you have any further questions on the EIA-878 survey, [optional clause for EIA-878] feel free to visit our FAQ page at, http://www.eia.gov/survey/form/eia_878/faqs.cfm, or contact Amerine Woodyard of my staff at amerine.woodyard@eia.gov or at 202-586-1256.

Sincerely,

Robert Merriam, Director

Office of Petroleum and Biofuels Statistics

U.S. Energy Information Administration