ENERGY

Editorial and publication support for 60-day study
Energy Information Administration

Under a purchase order contract with the U.S. Department of Energy, Econometrica has provided support for a report by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) in response to a request by the Secretary of Energy. On February 16, 2000, President Clinton tasked the Department of Energy to undertake a study of one facet of the recent home heating oil and diesel fuel price spikes in the Northeast. His charge to DOE was stated as: “I’ve asked Secretary Richardson to conduct a 60-day study on converting factories and major users from oil to other fuels, which will help to free up future oil supplies for use in heating homes.”

In response to this task, the Secretary of Energy requested that the Energy Information Administration (EIA) undertake jointly, with the U.S. DOE Office of Policy, a study which covers the following issues: (1) a short description of the causes of the Northeast fuel oil price spikes, (2) the role of industrial and other large users of fuel oil in the Northeast market, (3) the existing and expected near-term patterns, through 2005, of fuel use by business, commercial, and residential consumers; (4) alternatives for greater fuel diversity or reduced distillate fuel oil use by these large users; and (5) obstacles to and incentives for conversion or reduced peak demand by distillate fuel oil users.

The purpose of this support task was to provide editorial and publication support for the final report to the Secretary of Energy. Econometrica prepared graphics for the report, using data and rough designs provided by EIA; processed and formatted the text; and technically edited the text to ensure the use of proper terminology and language, the logical flow of complex descriptions, and compliance with EIA publication standards and directives.