EIA-176 Protocol

OMB Control No: 1905-0186

Expiration Date: 3/31/2019

EIA-176: Annual Report of Natural Gas and Supplemental Gas Supply & Disposition

Cognitive Testing Protocol

February 2017

(This protocol is a guide – the questions presented here won’t necessarily be asked exactly as worded in the protocol or in this order. It is important to note that not all questions will be asked in every interview.)

Research Goals:

• To determine whether respondents are able to report if they have an alternative fuel vehicle (AFV) fleet and how many vehicles are in their fleet;

• To determine whether respondents are able to provide location information of aboveground LNG facilities used by their company.

• To conclude whether respondents that are local distribution companies are able to report the five-digit zip codes of their end use customers.

• To determine whether respondents are able to report Vaporization/Liquefaction/LNG Fuel as a separate category of natural gas consumed in operations.

• To estimate any changes in reporting burden associated with collecting this information and obtain feedback on appropriateness of current reporting burden

Part A – Introduction

• Introduce self and observers

Purpose of Interview:

Let me start by telling you a little about what we will be doing today:

• We are asking you some questions about potential changes to the EIA-176 Annual Report of Natural Gas Supply and Disposition.

• We are planning to add some new questions as well as clear up some data problems we have been having and we want to get feedback from people that fill out the form before we finalize these changes. There are no right or wrong answers, and if something doesn’t make sense to you or you have any questions, please ask.

• This session is confidential, which means only persons directly related to this project can listen to your tapes, and the recordings are erased once our report is written. The report combines information from all of our interviews and contains no information that personally identifies you or the company at which you work.

• Do you have any questions?

Part B – Background Information

Let’s first talk about the number of burden hours that it takes for you to complete this form.

• How much time does it take you to review instructions, search data sources, and gather the information for this survey form?

• Are you able to directly access the data needed from company records to report on this form, or do you work with others to gather this data?

• Once you have gathered the information needed, how much time does it take you to record that information on the survey form and report this information to EIA?

• Adding the time it takes you to gather the information and the time it takes for you to report, what is the total amount of time it take you to file your report for this survey? [NOTE: Burden for this form is 12 hours, if respondent indicates that it takes < 8 hours or > 16 hours ask how they are able to report so quickly or why it takes so long.]

• How many years have you been filling out the EIA-176?

• In the past, is this the usual time that it takes your company to report this information?

Part C – AFV Vehicle Use and NG Pump Sales

EIA is considering modifying its vehicle related questions on Form EIA-176, to learn more about alternative-fuel vehicle usage, including compressed natural gas and liquefied natural gas. The next few questions are focused on the characteristics of the AFVs in your company’s fleet.

• Does your company’s vehicle fleet include any alternative fueled vehicles?

  • (If yes) What kinds of information do you keep on AFVs that your company owns or leases?

  • (If yes) Do you know what types of fuel your AFVs use?

  • (If yes) Do you know how many of your AFVs are in your fleet?

  • If EIA asked you to report the number of AFVs fueled by natural gas or other fuels in your fleet, how easy or difficult would it be for you to report that information?

• Does your company operate a natural gas fueling facility?

  • (If they have natural gas-fueled AFVs) Are the volumes consumed by your fleet included with sales of vehicle fuel in Part 6 on your most recent EIA-176 submission?

  • (If yes) Besides the vehicles you own or lease, does your fueling facility make any sales to owners of other fleet vehicles or to the public?

  • (If yes) What kinds of sales information are kept in your records?

  • (If yes) Do you keep records of your sales and sale prices? How about the cost or price your company pays for CNG or CNG for AFVs the company uses?

  • (If yes) Where do you report your vehicle fuel sales on Form EIA-176?

  • (If yes) Do you know what the retail price per gallon equivalent of NG sold to the public was? (This price generally ranges from $1-$4 per gallon gasoline equivalent)

  • (If yes) How do you determine the retail price for the natural gas that you sell? How often do you set your price? (daily, weekly, monthly)

  • (If yes) If EIA ask you to report the average retail price for the year of natural gas sold to the public, how easy or difficult would it be to report that information?

  • (If yes) Does your fueling facility sell fuels other than natural gas to the public?

    • (If needed) What kinds of information of other fuel sales are kept in your records?

    • (If needed) Where do you report your sales of other fuels on the EIA-176?

Part D – LNG Storage Facilities and End Use Customers

EIA is considering collecting information on aboveground LNG storage. EIA wants to know names and the zip codes of these facilities used by your company. Additionally, EIA is interested in collecting zip code information of end use customers of natural gas.

• Does your company own, operate, control (directly or indirectly), or use any aboveground LNG storage facilities?

  • (If yes) Do you have a list of all of the aboveground LNG storage facilities that are used by your company?

  • (If yes) What kinds of information do you have on the facilities? Do you know the names and zip codes of each facility? Do you have information on the facility specifications such as capacity, deliverability, functionalities (such as liquefaction, vehicle fuel delivery, etc.)?

  • (If needed) If EIA asked you to report the name and zip code of the aboveground storage facilities, how difficult or easy would it be for you to report that information?

• Does your company deliver natural gas to consumers?

  • (If yes) Does your company keep records on its deliveries and sales of natural gas?

  • (If yes) What kinds of sales information are kept in your records? (if needed: customer names, type of customer, volume sold, revenue)

  • (If yes) Do your records include information on the zip codes of the customers?

    • (If Yes) Are the zip codes contained within your records 5 digits long or 9 digits long?

  • If EIA asked you to report all zip codes your company delivers natural gas to for end use, how difficult or easy would it be for you to report that information? (End-use gas is consumed in the residential, commercial, industrial, electric, and vehicle fuel sectors, and excludes things like storage injections and gas sold to other LDCs.)

  • How difficult or easy would it be for you to report the counties that your company delivers natural gas to for end use?

  • Do you have this information available in a graphic or an electronic map such as a digitized map of your service area?

  • If EIA asked you to report the names of the counties your company delivers natural gas to for end use, instead of zip codes, how difficult or easy would it be for you to report that information?

  • (If needed) Is it easier to report zip codes or county names of natural gas deliveries to customers to EIA?

Part E – Vaporization/Liquefaction/LNG Fuel Consumption

EIA is considering a standalone reporting line for Vaporization/Liquefaction/LNG Fuel in the reporting categories for natural gas consumed in operations. EIA is interested in gathering information on volumes of natural gas used in liquefaction and vaporization.

• Does your company currently consume natural gas for liquefaction or vaporization purposes?

  • (If yes) What types of records are kept on your use of natural gas for liquefaction and/or vaporization?

  • (If yes) Where do you currently report natural gas used by your company in liquefaction or vaporization on the EIA-176?

  • (If no) Does your company use electricity or fuels other than natural gas for liquefaction or vaporization activities?

    • What types of records are kept on your use of other fuels for liquefaction or vaporization?

    • (If needed) Where do you currently report your use of other fuels for liquefaction or vaporization on the EIA-176?

  • (If yes) If EIA were to ask you to report natural gas consumed by your company for liquefaction or vaporization purposes in a separate category, how easy or difficult would it be for you to report that information?

Part F – Vehicle Fuel Clarification

• What does the term “Vehicle Fuel” mean to you?

• What would/do you currently report under the category of “Vehicle Fuel” on the EIA-176 survey?

• Where would you report LNG or CNG deliveries used for cars?

• Where would you report LNG or CNG deliveries used for ships?

• If EIA included the text (include LNG and CNG for cars, trucks, and ships), would that change the data that you report under the “Vehicle Fuel” category?

Part G – Burden Estimate

• In the beginning of this interview you said that it takes approximately x hours to file your current EIA-176 report, if you needed to report the additional information requested by EIA, how much more time would it take you to file your report? (Include both the time it would take to gather the information, record it on the form and report it to EIA)

Part H – Wrapping Up

• Do you have any problems when completing the EIA-176?

• Do you have any suggestions on how to improve this survey?

Thank you for your time!

Confidentiality of Information – The information and responses you provided during this interview is confidential and will not be released in identifiable form to anyone outside of this research project. Your responses will be aggregated with other participants and all identifiable information will be deleted from our records after the final report is completed.

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