Adding Hydrogen to EIA-923 Menu List

Request: EIA requests to add hydrogen (source code H2) to the menu list of energy source options given in Table 8 of the instructions for Form EIA-923, Power Plant Operations Report.

Background: Form EIA-923, Power Plant Operations Report, collects operational data for all facilities in the U.S. with an existing nameplate capacity of 1 MW or greater. These data include generation, consumption, and cost and quality of delivered fuels. The instructions for Form EIA-923 provide menu lists of prime movers and energy sources to help respondents select from standardized options. These menu lists have changed over time as different energy sources emerge to become more commonly used. Currently, there are 41 distinct energy source options that respondents can select. Among these options are “Other” energy sources that allow respondents to indicate, in a text field, an energy source such as hydrogen that is not specifically listed. EIA reviews these text entries and periodically updates the menu list if there is an energy source that appears frequently and should be added. These updates are commonly made during a reclearance of the survey.

Occasionally, an industry development emerges quickly. Hydrogen’s use in electric power generation is an example of such a quick development and some plants are considering the use of hydrogen to supplement other energy sources. The recent and relatively quick development of this supplemental use is important to measure. Respondents who want to identify this capability currently have to select either the “Other Gases” (source code OG) or “Other Energy Sources” (source code OTH) energy source option, then provide a text description that hydrogen is the intended energy source. Users of the published data would like EIA to accurately capture use of hydrogen, largely because it is viewed as a path toward greater renewables participation in electric generation. Eventually, hydrogen is the likely energy source used to store “excess” renewable energy which would avoid the curtailments that are occasionally required.

Benefit: This addition to the instructions for Form EIA-923 Power Plant Operations Report, reduces the reporting burden for respondents by streamlining the data entry of this energy source. With the early adoption of hydrogen as a regular energy source, EIA will ensure the continued utility and accuracy of the data published from the survey.