ASA President Elect Bob Rodriguez Sends Letters in Support of Energy Information Administration Budget

By Steve Pierson posted 06-08-2011 16:26

  
2012 ASA President Bob Rodriguez sent letters* to House and Senate appropriators early this week in support of the fiscal year 2012 (FY12) budget for the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The letter explicitly supports the FY12 requested level of $124 million and also expresses concern over the 14% cut to EIA’s budget in FY11 enacted in April. The cut reduced EIA’s budget to $96 million in FY11, down from $111 million in FY10.

In the House letter and the Senate letter, Rodriguez states,
These cuts will result in less data in some cases and less timely data in other cases. EIA data should be viewed as a form of business intelligence. We should not undermine that intelligence when its strategic importance and economic value are so critical to determining how to recover from economic recession and navigate the world energy conditions.
To further establish the importance of EIA data, Rodriguez writes,  
Energy issues are integral to our economy and national security. Hundreds of billions of dollars ride on energy markets and on investments in energy production, energy conservation, and energy-consuming equipment, appliances, and vehicles. Our energy imports and the global energy market make energy a security issue.

EIA is the principal source of unbiased information to help our country understand its needs and risks and to help guide our decisions. Policymakers, businesses, and regulators all rely on EIA for data about domestic and global energy reserves, production, consumption, and efficiency.
The House letter also acknowledges last week’s action by a House panel to fund EIA at $105 million:
I appreciate the subcommittee mark for FY12—$105 million—being an improvement upon the FY11 level but note that it still falls well short of the FY10 level.
The next House steps are for the full Appropriations Committee and then the entire House to consider the bill—the Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill—that includes EIA’s budget. The Senate has yet to take any action of any FY12 bills. FY12 starts October 1. 

Related links:
*The 2010 and 2011 ASA presidents both work for government agencies and so are ineligible to sign such letters.
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06-28-2011 08:19

From The Hill: "Former federal officials: EIA budget cuts could result in 'greater price volatility" (http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/166433-former-federal-officials-eia-budget-cuts-could-result-in-greater-price-volatility)