Winter Heating Fuels Telephone Survey

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
U.S. ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION
Washington, DC 20585

OMB No. 1905-0174
Expiration Date: XX/XX/XXXX
Burden: 6 minutes

EIA-877
WINTER HEATING FUELS TELEPHONE SURVEY
INSTRUCTIONS
1. QUESTIONS?
If you have any questions about Form EIA-877 after
reading the instructions, please call our toll free number
1-855-342-4872.

2. PURPOSE
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) Form
EIA-877, Winter Heating Fuels Telephone Survey is
designed to collect data on State-level stocks and
residential retail prices of No. 2 heating oil and propane.
The data are used to monitor the prices of propane and
No. 2 heating oil, and to report to the Congress and
others when requested.

Your EIA Identification Number is the 10-digit number
printed on the label.
Indicate month, day, and year (e.g., November 8, 2021
is: Month 11 Day 08 Year 21).
Reference Dates
The reference period for prices is as of 7:00 a.m.
Monday. The reference period for inventories is as of
7:00 a.m. on the Friday before the Monday price data are
reported.
PART 2. RESIDENTIAL RETAIL PRICE DATA

3. WHO MUST SUBMIT

Column A. State Abbreviation

Form EIA-877 is mandatory pursuant to Section 13(b) of
the Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974 (Public
Law 93-275) and must be completed by a scientifically
selected sample of No. 2 heating oil and propane
dealers.

Data are collected by the States participating in the State
Heating Oil and Propane Program. Refer to Section 11
for a complete list of State abbreviations.

Section 8 explains the possible sanctions for failing to
report.

Report the retail price per gallon (excluding all taxes) for
residential customers of No. 2 heating oil and propane
on the reference day. The price should be for local
residential customers with storage tanks of
approximately 275 gallons. The price should exclude
surcharges for customers living outside the normal
delivery area. It should also exclude any discounts or
premiums paid for small or large volume purchases. The
price is for residential customers located in the reported
States. Residential customers are defined as individual
customers or households (as opposed to businesses or
institutions) who use the fuel to heat their residences.
Sales to apartment buildings or to other multi-family
dwellings are excluded from the “Residential Retail
Sales” category.

4. WHEN TO SUBMIT
The data collected on Form EIA-877 are requested on
Monday or Tuesday of each week during October to
March and the second Monday of the month during April
to September by telephone. No written confirmation of
your data submission is required.

5. WHERE TO SUBMIT
Companies selected for Form EIA-877 survey are
telephoned by the participating State Energy Offices or
EIA to collect data on No. 2 heating oil and propane retail
prices. Respondents are not required to submit any
written information.

6. HOW TO COMPLETE THE SURVEY FORM
PART 1. IDENTIFICATION DATA
Report corrections to information contained on the label
if the label information is incomplete or incorrect.

Columns B and C. Retail Price Data

If the respondent has more than one establishment
within the State and the residential retail price varies by
establishment, the respondent should provide the retail
price only for the outlet selected in the sample.
For example, if the respondent owns two fuel oil
establishments in the State and one outlet selected in the
sample sells to residences for $2.24 per gallon and the
other for $2.29 per gallon, the reported retail price would
be: $2.24. Retail prices reported must be rounded to the

EIA-877, Winter Heating Fuels Telephone Survey

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8. SANCTIONS

nearest tenth of a cent.
PART 3. ANNUAL RESIDENTIAL HEATING FUEL
RETAIL SALES DATA
During each new sample, a firm will be required to report
the approximate sales volumes of No. 2 heating oil and
propane it sold to residential customers from January 1
through December 31 of the previous year. Sales will be
requested by State for selected outlets. The sales should
be assigned to a given State based on customer
location. Residential customers are defined as individual
customers or households (as opposed to businesses or
institutions) who use the fuel to heat their residences.
Sales to apartment buildings or to other multi-family
dwellings are excluded from the “Residential Retail
Sales” category.
Sales Volumes should be entered in thousands of
gallons. Round numbers to the nearest thousand, e.g.,
enter 6,500 gallons as 7, enter 6,400 gallons as 6.

7. PROVISIONS REGARDING
CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION
The information you provide on Form EIA-877 will be
used for statistical purposes only and is confidential by
law. In accordance with the Confidential Information
Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2018 and
other applicable Federal laws, your responses will not be
disclosed in identifiable form without your consent. Per
the Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015,
Federal information systems are protected from
malicious activities through cybersecurity screening of
transmitted data. Every EIA employee, as well as every
agent, is subject to a jail term, a fine, or both if he or she
makes public ANY identifiable information you reported.
Data protection methods are applied to the statistical
data published from EIA-877 survey information to
ensure that the risk of disclosure of identifiable
information is very small.

The timely submission of Form EIA-877 by those
required to report is mandatory under 15 USC 772(b), as
amended. Failure to respond may result in a civil penalty
of not more than $10,949 per day for each 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 injunctions commanding any person to
comply with these reporting requirements. Title 18
U.S.C. 1001 makes it a criminal offense for any person
knowingly and willingly to make to any Agency or
Department of the United States any false, fictitious, or
fraudulent statements as to any matter within its
jurisdiction.

9. 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 6
minutes 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: U.S. Energy Information
Administration, Office of Statistical Methods & Research,
EI-21, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington,
DC 20585; and to the Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget,
Washington, DC 20503.

EIA-877, Winter Heating Fuels Telephone Survey

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10. DEFINITIONS

11. STATE ABBREVIATIONS

No. 2 Fuel Oil (Heating Oil) - A distillate fuel oil that has
distillation temperatures of 400 degrees Fahrenheit at
the 10-percent recovery point and 640 degrees
Fahrenheit at the 90-percent recovery point and meets
the specifications defined in ASTM Specification D 396.
It is used in atomizing type burners for domestic heating
or for moderate capacity commercial/industrial burner
units.

AL
AR
CO
CT
DE
DC
FL
GA
ID
IL
IN
IA
KS
KY
ME
MD
MA
MI
MN
MS
MO
MT
NE
NH
NJ
NY
NC
ND
OH
OK
PA
RI
SD
TN
TX
UT
VT
VA
WI

Parent - A firm that directly or indirectly controls another
entity.
Delivered Residential Propane - Private household
customers who purchase propane for the specific
purpose of heating their home (include farm houses),
water heating, and cooking. This includes sales of
bottled gas delivered to the residence and truck sales
delivered to the customer’s tank, but excludes
agricultural use.
Propane Consumer Grade - A normally gaseous
paraffinic compound (C3H8), which includes all products
covered by Natural Gas Policy Act Specifications for
commercial and HD-5 propane and ASTM Specifications
D 1835. Excludes: feedstock propanes, which are
propanes not classified as consumer grade propanes,
including the propane portion of any natural gas liquid
mixes, i.e., butane-propane mix.
United States - The 50 States and the District of
Columbia.

-

EIA-877, Winter Heating Fuels Telephone Survey

Alabama
Arkansas
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Wisconsin

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