Frequently Asked Questions
Coal
- From what country does the U.S. import the most coal?
- How do I convert between short tons and metric tons?
- How large are U.S. coal reserves?
- How many and what kind of power plants are there in the United States?
- How much coal, natural gas, or petroleum is used to generate a kilowatt-hour of electricity?
- To what country does the U.S. export the most coal?
- What are the different types of coal prices published by EIA?
- What is the average heat (Btu) content of U.S. coal?
- Where can I find coking coal prices?
- Which States produce the most coal?
Conversion & Equivalents
- How do I compare heating fuels?
- How do I convert between short tons and metric tons?
- How do I convert fuels from one unit of measure to another — from gallons to barrels, for example?
- How many gallons of gasoline does one barrel of oil make?
- What are Mcf, Btu, and therms? How do I convert prices in Mcf to Btus and therms?
Crude Oil
- Do we have enough oil worldwide to meet our future needs?
- Does EIA have data on U.S. oil refineries and their locations?
- Does EIA have data on the movement of crude oil and ethanol by rail and truck?
- Does EIA have data on the type or quality of crude oil processed in U.S. refineries?
- Does EIA have maps or information on the location of natural gas and oil pipelines?
- How dependent is the United States on foreign oil?
- How many gallons of gasoline does one barrel of oil make?
- How much coal, natural gas, or petroleum is used to generate a kilowatt-hour of electricity?
- How much does it cost to produce crude oil and natural gas?
- How much of the oil produced in the U.S. is consumed in the U.S.?
- How much oil does the United States consume per year?
- How much oil is produced in Alaska and where does it go?
- How much oil is used to make plastic?
- How much petroleum does the United States import?
- What are the differences between various types of crude oil prices?
- What are the products and uses of petroleum?
- What do I pay for in a gallon of regular gasoline?
- What is the difference between crude oil, petroleum products, and petroleum?
- What is the outlook for home heating fuel prices this winter?
- When was the last refinery built in the United States?
- Where is the boundary for State and Federal offshore oil and gas production?
- Why don't fuel prices change as quickly as crude oil prices?
Diesel
- How do I calculate/find diesel fuel surcharges?
- How many gallons of diesel fuel does one barrel of oil make?
- How much carbon dioxide is produced by burning gasoline and diesel fuel?
- What are projected diesel fuel prices for 2012 and for 2013?
- When was the last refinery built in the United States?
- Where can I find prices for off-road diesel fuel?
- Why don't fuel prices change as quickly as crude oil prices?
- Why has diesel fuel been more expensive than gasoline?
Electricity
- Can I choose the electricity supplier where I live?
- Can I generate and sell electricity to an electric utility?
- Does EIA have city or county-level energy consumption and price data?
- Does EIA have electricity prices by State?
- Does EIA have information on the service territories of U.S. electric utilities?
- Does EIA have maps or information on the location of electric power transmission lines?
- Does EIA publish electric utility rate, tariff, and demand charge data?
- How is electricity used in U.S. homes?
- How many and what kind of power plants are there in the United States?
- How many nuclear power plants are in the U.S. and where are they located?
- How many smart meters are installed in the U.S. and who has them?
- How much coal, natural gas, or petroleum is used to generate a kilowatt-hour of electricity?
- How much does it cost to build different types of power plants in the United States?
- How much does it cost to generate electricity with different types of power plants?
- How much electricity does a typical nuclear power plant generate?
- How much electricity does an American home use?
- How much electricity is lost in transmission and distribution in the United States?
- How much electricity is used for cooling in the United States?
- How much electricity is used for lighting in the United States?
- How much energy is consumed in the world by each sector?
- How old are U.S. power plants?
- What is U.S. electricity generation by energy source?
- What is a capacity factor?
- What is the difference between electricity generation capacity and electricity generation?
- What is the efficiency of different types of power plants?
- What is the outlook for home heating fuel prices this winter?
- What percentage of world energy consumption and electricity generation comes from renewable energy?
- Where can I find data on peak and hourly electricity demand?
Environment
- Does EIA report water vapor emissions data?
- How do I convert between short tons and metric tons?
- How does the hole in the ozone layer affect global warming?
- How much carbon dioxide (CO2) is produced per kilowatt-hour when generating electricity with fossil fuels?
- How much carbon dioxide (CO2) is produced when different fuels are burned?
- How much carbon dioxide is produced by burning gasoline and diesel fuel?
- How much of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are associated with electricity generation?
- What are greenhouse gases and how do they affect the climate?
- What are the largest sources of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions by fuel?
- What are the largest sources of total greenhouse gas emissions by sector for the United States?
- Where can I find emission factors for greenhouse gases and air pollutants?
- Why do carbon dioxide emissions weigh more than the original fuel?
Gasoline
- Can I tell where the gasoline at my local station comes from?
- Does EIA have city or county-level energy consumption and price data?
- Does EIA have gasoline prices by city, county, or zip code?
- How can I find historical gasoline prices for each State?
- How many gallons of gasoline does one barrel of oil make?
- How much carbon dioxide is produced by burning gasoline and diesel fuel?
- How much ethanol is in gasoline and how does it affect fuel economy?
- How much gasoline does the United States consume?
- How much tax do we pay on a gallon of gasoline and diesel fuel?
- What do I pay for in a gallon of regular gasoline?
- What is the outlook for gasoline prices for 2012 and for 2013?
- What was the highest U.S. average retail price of regular gasoline?
- What's up (and down) with gasoline prices?
- Where can I find inflation-adjusted gasoline prices?
- Why don't fuel prices change as quickly as crude oil prices?
General Energy
- Does EIA have city or county-level energy consumption and price data?
- Does EIA have maps or information on the location of electric power transmission lines?
- Does EIA have maps or information on the location of natural gas and oil pipelines?
- How do I cite information on EIA's website in a bibliography?
- How many smart meters are installed in the U.S. and who has them?
- How much does it cost to build different types of power plants in the United States?
- How much energy does a person use in a year?
- How much energy is consumed in the world by each sector?
- How much energy is used in buildings in the United States?
- How much of the world's energy does the United States use?
- What can I expect to pay for heating this winter?
- What percentage of world energy consumption and electricity generation comes from renewable energy?
- Where can I find out about energy-related grants or tax credits for my home or business?
- Where can I get help paying my utility bills?
- Who do I contact to complain about high energy prices?
Natural Gas
- Can I obtain a list of companies involved in the natural gas industry, such as utilities, pipeline companies, and storage operators?
- Does EIA have city or county-level energy consumption and price data?
- Does EIA have maps or information on the location of natural gas and oil pipelines?
- How can I choose my natural gas supplier in my State?
- How does EIA calculate the year-ago and five-year averages in the Natural Gas Weekly Storage Report?
- How much coal, natural gas, or petroleum is used to generate a kilowatt-hour of electricity?
- How much does it cost to produce crude oil and natural gas?
- How much natural gas does the United States have and how long will it last?
- How much natural gas is consumed (used) in the U.S. (total and by end use)?
- What are Mcf, Btu, and therms? How do I convert prices in Mcf to Btus and therms?
- What are the major factors affecting natural gas prices?
- What can I expect to pay for heating this winter?
- What is the average cost of natural gas used for electric power generation?
- What is the outlook for home heating fuel prices this winter?
- What is the total working gas capacity in underground natural gas storage?
- What is the volume of world natural gas reserves?
- What percentage of homes in the U.S. use natural gas?
- Where are the historical spot prices for natural gas?
- Where can I find international prices for natural gas?
- Where can I find shale gas and coal bed methane production and reserves data?
- Where is the boundary for State and Federal offshore oil and gas production?
- Which States consume and produce the most natural gas?
- Why am I being charged more for propane than the price on EIA's website?
Nuclear
- How many and what kind of power plants are there in the United States?
- How many new nuclear power plants are being built in the United States?
- How many nuclear power plants are in the U.S. and where are they located?
- How much electricity does a typical nuclear power plant generate?
- How much spent (used) fuel is stored at U.S. nuclear power plants?
- How old are U.S. nuclear power plants and when was the last one built?
Prices
- Are the prices that EIA publishes adjusted for inflation?
- Does EIA have city or county-level energy consumption and price data?
- Does EIA have gasoline prices by city, county, or zip code?
- Does EIA publish electric utility rate, tariff, and demand charge data?
- How do I calculate/find diesel fuel surcharges?
- How do I compare heating fuels?
- How much does it cost to generate electricity with different types of power plants?
- How much does it cost to produce crude oil and natural gas?
- How much tax do we pay on a gallon of gasoline and diesel fuel?
- What are the differences between various types of crude oil prices?
- What are the different types of coal prices published by EIA?
- What can I expect to pay for heating this winter?
- What do I pay for in a gallon of regular gasoline?
- What is the outlook for gasoline prices for 2012 and for 2013?
- What is the outlook for home heating fuel prices this winter?
- What was the highest U.S. average retail price of regular gasoline?
- What's up (and down) with gasoline prices?
- Where can I find coking coal prices?
- Where can I find ethanol prices?
- Where can I find inflation-adjusted gasoline prices?
- Where can I find out about energy-related grants or tax credits for my home or business?
- Where can I find prices for off-road diesel fuel?
- Where can I get help paying my utility bills?
- Who do I contact to complain about high energy prices?
- Why am I being charged more for propane than the price on EIA's website?
- Why don't fuel prices change as quickly as crude oil prices?
- Why has diesel fuel been more expensive than gasoline?
Renewables
- Can I generate and sell electricity to an electric utility?
- Does EIA have data on the movement of crude oil and ethanol by rail and truck?
- How many alternative fuel and hybrid vehicles are there in the U.S.?
- How much U.S. energy consumption comes from renewable sources?
- How much ethanol is in gasoline and how does it affect fuel economy?
- How much ethanol is produced, imported, exported, and consumed in the U.S.?
- What percentage of world energy consumption and electricity generation comes from renewable energy?
- Where can I find ethanol prices?