Spending Cuts Severely Reduce US Energy Data

Because of the 2011 spending bill cuts, the budget for the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) will be signifantly reduced, making it impossible for the agency to collect and disseminate data on geothermal, concentrating solar, commercial buildings and US greenhouse gas emissions.

The final fiscal year 2011 budget provides $95.4 million, a reduction of $15.2 million (14%) from 2010 levels.

The EIA will: 

• Eliminate annual published inventory of US Greenhouse Gas Emissions.
• Halt preparation of the 2012 EIA "International Energy Outlook."
• Suspend work on EIA’s 2011 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey, the only source of statistical data for US energy consumption and related characteristics of commercial buildings.
• Terminate annual data collection and reports on geothermal space heating (heat pump) systems.
• Terminate annual data collection and reports on solar thermal systems.

Since the fiscal year is more than half over, the cuts will effectively run twice as deep. The cuts recently approved by Congress will significantly impede the federal government’s ability to collect, analyze and disseminate energy data, says the EIA.

EIA also said it wouldn’t provide annual data on US oil and natural gas reserves and would curtail efforts to understand linkages between physical energy markets and financial trading. It also won’t audit energy and financial data submitted by major oil and natural gas companies, track international energy statistics.

Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) was one of many who spoke out against the cuts, which House Republicans insisted on.

"The Energy Information Administration is one of the few neutral and credible sources of information on oil and gas prices," said Bingaman.  "Americans need that sort of objective information more than ever and the cuts will make it that much more difficult to chart a national energy policy that addresses real challenges." 

Read the EIA press release that detail the cuts: