Background
In this latest release of Coal Transportation Rates to the Electric Power Sector, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) significantly expands upon prior versions of this report with the incorporation of new EIA survey data.
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Previously, EIA relied solely on data from the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB), specifically their confidential Carload Waybill Sample. While valuable, due to the statistical nature of the Waybill data, much of the information had to be withheld for confidentiality reasons. With this current release, EIA augments STB data with EIA's Power Plant Operations Report (EIA-923) data. Unlike the Waybill sample, EIA-923 survey data are intended to be a full population data set. Utilizing the EIA-923 Survey's much larger data coverage enables EIA to publish data over numerous routes that were previously withheld, especially for state to state rates.
Another feature of this release is the incorporation for the first time of coal transport rates by barge and truck. As a relatively new survey field however, barge and truck data currently comprise a limited time series. Further analysis will be conducted as more data are collected; however, three years (2008-2010) are included in this initial release.
This report covers railroad transportation rates from 2001-2010 and barge and truck rates from 2008-2010. STB data covers 2001-2009 and the newly incorporated EIA data extends over the period of 2008-2010. EIA is pleased to note that, for future releases, using EIA survey data rather than solely relying on the STB Waybill will enable EIA to significantly improve the timeliness of this report, releasing data within several months of collection.
