FAQs for Survey Form EIA-857

How do I get a copy of the form and/or the instructions?

The form and the instructions are available on the EIA website at: https://www.eia.gov/survey/#eia-857. The files must be saved to your personal computer and the XLS version of the form submitted through secure file transfer. Data cannot be entered interactively on the website.

If you are unable to download the form from EIA’s website please contact us.

What version of the form should I use?

Only use the current version of the form that is on the EIA website. Form EIA-857 has changed over the past few years. Obtain the current form and instructions.

How do I submit the form?

EIA requires you to submit your form via the Secure File Transfer (SFT) method of transmission. SFT employs HTTPS, an industry standard method of sending information over the web using a secure, encrypted process. All information is protected by 128-bit encryption to maintain the privacy and confidentiality of transmitted data. Submit survey forms through SFT at: https://signon.eia.doe.gov/upload/noticeoog.jsp.

If you are unable to submit your form through SFT please contact us.

When is the form due?

Form EIA-857 must be received by EIA within 30 days following the end of the report month. For example, the data for June are due on or before July 30th.

My company does not have the information required on the Form EIA-857 within 30 days after the end of the report month. Can we get an extension?

No, but estimates are acceptable if they enable you to submit the form on time. If company records are not available, report your best estimate of the data for that month. Please contact us if you are concerned about the need to revise these estimates later

Who should I inform of a change in the contact person in our company for Form EIA-8h3?

Please inform us as soon as possible of any change in the name, phone number, etc., of the contact person for Form EIA-857 in your company. The contact person should be the person who can answer questions about the data you report. Also, please begin entering this new information on the form the next month that you file. Remember to enter an "X" in the box asking if any Respondent Identification Data has changed since the last report.

Who should I inform if our company is sold, merged with another company, or buys another natural gas company?

Please inform us as soon as possible of any such changes in your business.

Why does my company always get selected to file Form EIA-857?

Within each State, the probability of selection of any particular company is proportional to the total amount of natural gas they delivered to end use consumers as reported on Form EIA-176. Some companies have such large volumes that they are selected every year. Others are selected with the probability of selection being proportional to the amount of their deliveries. Companies with larger volumes have a greater chance of being selected than those with smaller volumes. If a State only has a small number of companies, the selection process often results in all companies in the State being selected every year.

Why is EIA calling me to ask about the data I submitted?

There are several reasons EIA may reach out to survey respondents related to the quality of the data, changes in data previously reported, and timeliness of the submission. Below are some things you can do to help clarify the data reported that may reduce the number of questions asked by EIA:

Allocate "accounting adjustments," "prior period adjustments," or "accrual entries" to the months in which the adjustments actually occurred. More information .

Do not report any negative data. More information.

Examine your form carefully to be sure data have been entered on the correct line. Form EIA-857 has changed over the past few years. Only use the current version of the form that is on the EIA website. Learn how to obtain the current form and instructions.

If the volume reported for any end-use consumers differs significantly from what was reported in the previous month (or for the same month in the previous year for companies that were required to report for both years), include an explanation for the difference in the Comments Section.

If the average price implied by your data differs significantly from that in the previous month for purchased gas or for gas that you own, include an explanation for the difference in the Comments Section.

If you have changed the classification of your end-use customers, explain the reason for your change in the Comments Section. (Note that many apparent shifts between end-use sectors are actually the result of data being entered on the wrong line of the form. Check your form carefully.)

Inform us as soon as possible of any change in your company's organization that results from the sale of your company, a merger, or your company's purchase of another natural gas company.

Inform us as soon as possible of any change in the name, phone number, etc., of the contact person for Form EIA-857 in your company. The contact person should be the person who can answer questions about the data you report. Also the next month that you file, please enter an "X" in the box asking if any Respondent Identification Data has changed since the last report and enter this new information on the form.

File the form on time. The Form EIA-857 is due no later than the 30th day after the end of the report month.

What is the distinction between "natural gas that you own" and "natural gas that you do not own" on the form?

"Natural gas that you own" is the gas that you sell and deliver to end-use consumers. "Natural gas that you do not own" is the gas that you deliver to end-use consumers under a transportation contract. In this case, consumers have purchased the gas from marketers or other third parties rather than from your company.

What should be included in "Electric power" (line items 06 and 11)?

"Electric power" includes deliveries of natural gas to all electric utilities and to nonutility power producers whose main business is electricity generation.

What do I put in "Other" (line items 07 and 12)?

If you deliver natural gas to end-use consumers and are not sure whether they should be classified as residential, commercial, industrial, or electric power consumers, please click here for information on how end-use consumers are classified for Form EIA-857. If you still are not sure how to classify your deliveries to some customers put those volumes and revenues in the appropriate "Other" line (item 07 and/or 12). In "Specify type," please describe the type of customers they are. You may contact us for assistance.

How can I tell what type of end-use consumers my customers are?

Only deliveries to the end-use consumer who actually burns the gas should be reported on Form EIA-857. Some information to help you identify end-use consumers follows, but feel free to contact us if you still have questions. Problems experienced by respondents in filling out Form EIA-857 include(1) distinguishing among their commercial, industrial, and electric power customers and (2) not realizing that deliveries to a local distribution company or a pipeline company should not be reported.

For the first issue, the instructions for Form EIA-857 contain a detailed description of each end-use category. (Instructions.) In summary:

• The residential sector includes mobile homes, single-family homes, and apartment buildings, but excludes institutional living quarters such as nursing homes, military quarters, or prisons.
• The commercial sector includes office buildings, government buildings, schools, retail establishments, and institutional living quarters.
• The industrial sector includes manufacturing; agriculture, forestry, and fisheries; mining; and construction.
• The electric power sector includes electric utilities and nonutility power producers whose main business is electricity generation.

For the second issue, you must carefully consider the business your customers are in. If they burn the natural gas you deliver to them, they are an end-use consumer who you should classify into one of the four end-use sectors. If they receive the gas and then provide further transportation to the final end user, they are not an end-use consumer themselves and these volumes should not be reported on Form EIA-857. Even though such customers may be referred to as "commercial" customers in your company's records, this does not mean that they are commercial end-use consumers for purposes of Form EIA-857.

Should I include taxes in the "Cost" and "Revenue" column?

Yes, include taxes.

Our data are in decatherms (Dth), but the form asks for thousand cubic feet (Mcf). May we report our data in Dth?

No, please convert your volumes to thousand cubic feet (Mcf). Decatherms and thousand cubic feet are not equivalent units. Contact us if you need assistance.

Our pressure base is different from the 14.73 psia cited in the form. Should I just note this in "Section II - Comments"?

No. Convert your volumes to the required pressure base. To do this, calculate a "pressure adjustment factor" for your company. This adjustment factor is the value of your pressure base at 60-degrees Fahrenheit divided by 14.73. Multiply all your volumes by this factor and report the resulting values. For example, if your pressure base is 15.00 psia at 60 deg F, your factor will be 15.00/14.73 = 1.018. Contact us if you need assistance.

Our billing cycle for deliveries doesn't match that of our purchases, so the delivery volumes we report will be out of sync with our purchases. How should we report these data?

We understand that companies have different billing and purchasing cycles. While we prefer actual flow data, billing-cycle data are acceptable as estimates if they are the best information you have.

May I include accounting adjustments in our reported data?

No. The purpose of Form EIA-857 is to collect flow data each month. Data that result from "accounting adjustments," "prior period adjustments," "true-ups," or that represent an "accrual entry" must not be reported in a single month. The accrued adjustments should be allocated to the proper months and data for those months resubmitted as revised reports if the adjustment constitutes a change of 4% or more than the originally submitted data. If company records do not permit the allocation of adjustments to the appropriate months, report the adjusted data in the proper lines on the form. In Part 1 of the form, check "Yes" to indicate that information provided in Lines 1-13 includes prior period adjustments. Note the amount of the volume and revenue adjustments, and the months to which they apply, in the Comments Section.

May I report negative volume or negative revenue data?

No. The adjustments that resulted in the net negative values for the report month should be allocated to the proper months and data for those months resubmitted as revised reports. If company records do not permit the allocation of adjustments to the appropriate months, report the adjusted data in the proper lines on the form. In Part 1 of the form, check "Yes" to indicate that information provided in Lines 1-13 includes prior period adjustments. Note the amount of the volume and revenue adjustments, and the months to which they apply, in the Comments Section.

What should be the relationship between the data I report on the monthly Form EIA-857 and the annual Form EIA-176?

The sum of the 12 months of data that you report on Form EIA-857 should equal the value that you report for the year on Form EIA-176 for the line items that refer to providing natural gas to end-use consumers. The line items on each form are matched below. If these values are not the same because of differences in the way you have handled "accounting adjustments" during the year, please contact us to discuss how best to resolve these differences.

My company owns the pipeline that delivers natural gas to our site, but we are an end-use consumer of the natural gas. Why were we chosen to file Form EIA-857?

All pipeline companies whose pipes deliver natural gas directly to an end-use consumer are subject to being selected for the EIA-857 sample. The sample for the monthly Form EIA-857 is selected within each State from the list of all Form EIA-176 respondents in that State. The fact that the end user actually owns the pipeline and may only deliver gas to the end-use site does not impact the eligibility of that pipeline to be selected for the EIA-857 sample.

My company only provides transportation service. Do we have to file?

Yes, if you transport natural gas to an end-use consumer, this is referred to as a "Delivery of natural gas that you do not own" on the Form EIA-857. You should report the volumes and associated revenues in line items 08, 09, 10, 11, or 12, depending on the category of the end-use consumer

My company delivers natural gas to a combined gas and electric distribution company. I cannot report the amount they use as an end-use consumer on the electric side. What should I do?

If you deliver natural gas directly to the electric power plant, then you should report the data as "Electric Power" on line item 06 and/or 11. Natural gas that you deliver to a local distribution company should not be reported on Form EIA-857. Distribution companies are responsible for reporting the natural gas they deliver to their end-use customers, including their own electricity generators.

How do I report financial gains and losses as a result of hedging (financial or physical)?

Total revenue should include gains and/or losses that resulted from hedging activities and should be reported in the reference month the gas associated with the hedge is delivered.

What is the difference between citygate purchases (line 1) and total system sendout (line 2)?

Citygate purchases represent the volumes purchased for sale to your company's customers whereas total system sendout would also include your company's use as well as deliveries of gas not owned to transportation customers.

Why are you now asking for sendout (line 2?)

EIA is collecting sendout data to help correct an imbalance between published supply and consumption aggregates. Our research finds that a portion of this imbalance is due to a reporting lag based on respondent billing cycle data that do not strictly coincide with the calendar month. By collecting total sendout from EIA-857 respondents, EIA will be able to publish consumption data that more accurately reflect the calendar month in keeping with our other data series

My company discovered an error or correction in data that was previously submitted. Do I have to notify EIA?

Resubmissions of reports are required if the actual or corrected data vary more than plus or minus 4% from the data previously reported. This benchmark should also be applied to prior period adjustments. If a data correction is discovered, please submit a corrected report through Secure File Transfer to EIA. In Part 1 of the form, enter an “X” in the box to indicate that it’s a resubmission.

I have additional questions that are not addressed in the instructions or answered here. Who should I contact for help?

EIA appreciates your efforts to provide accurate, timely data to EIA. You can call our toll-free survey line at 877-800-5261 or Michael Kopalek at 202-586-4001 (michael.kopalek@eia.gov).