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Coal Transportation: Rates and Trends 

Data for: 1979-2001 (partial 2002) 

Release Date: September 17, 2004 

Next Update: As new data become available

Coal Transportation: Rates and Trends in the United States, 1979-2001 (with Supplementary Data to 2002) Introduction

In this report, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) is offering Excel spreadsheet files and data graphs that can be used to 

address some of the questions often asked about transporting coal. We prepared these data files because much underlying data on

coal transportation rates and costs of coal at mines must be withheld from our public Coal Transportation Rate Database (CTRDB). 

Following the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issuance in 1996 of Orders 888 and 889, establishing principles of 

open access and information sharing for electric transmission capacity, interest grew in electricity deregulation and private ownership 

of utilities' integrated assets. In that climate, many utilities that had previously disclosed transportation rates and mine prices 

changed policy. Those data were declared confidential and, by law, cannot be disclosed at individual company levels or in limited 

aggregations that analysts or competitors could use to impute the confidential data. 

The Excel spreadsheets, labeled and formatted as printable tables in this report, are presented at levels of 

aggregation that for the most part can be released (individual cells must be withheld in some cases). They 

furnish average coal transportation rate statistics, corresponding delivered prices, shipping distances, 

transportation modes, origins and destinations, and general contract terms. These statistics can be used to 

find representative rate and cost data and chronological trends that would be otherwise unavailable. The 

spreadsheets can be downloaded and, even though some elements may be withheld, they can be used or 

recompiled to examine other issues. To that end, we have tried to keep formats and layouts of related tables 

uniform. 

The Excel tables and graphs are organized in seven sections, as follows: 

Section 1 - Coal Distribution and Receipts 

Section 2 - General Coal Transportation Rates, Distances, and Costs 

Section 3 - Coal Transportation Statistics by Demand Region 

Section 4 - Coal Transportation Statistics by Supply Region 

Section 5 - Trends in Coal Transportation Contracts 

Section 6 - Coal Transportation Rate Database, Metrics and Limitations 

Section 7 - Summary of 2001 Contract Coal Shipment Details 

Sections 1 through 5 are introduced in the following Summary and Discussion section. Sections 6 and 7 are 

introduced in the final two report sections, of the same names. 

The tables in this report were compiled from transportation statistics supplied periodically by the Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the Department of Transportation, Surface Transportation Board. 

The report presents transportation-rate data calculated between specific origins and destinations for the most 

recent period, from 1999 through 2001, and for two baseline years, 1979 and 1990. The tables in Section 1 

also include data for 2002 that are available from coal distribution and coal receipts surveys conducted by EIA, 

which provide some insight into coal volume and origin/destination trends beyond 2001. Tables based on nonconfidential information such as average national-level coal transportation distances, tonnages, and 

transportation rates (Section 2, Tables 2.05-2.09), contract information and statistics (Section 5, Table 5.01 

and 5.02), and general database metrics and source information (Section 6, all four tables) include data for all 

years between 1979 and 2001. These tables do not include the more detailed origin/destination pair 

calculations. 

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Graphs have also been created from selected statistics that illustrate important trends in U.S. coal 

transportation and distribution. In the Summary that follows, only major trends in coal transportation are 

illustrated. Click here to view Excel tables and graphs online.* To download the Excel files, click here. 

*When viewing online, users of non-Microsoft browsers may need to use the index sheet to navigate the Excel 

tables and graphs.

Note: Rate data (for dollars per ton and dollars per ton-mile statistics) and mine price data for 2000 and 2001 are currently 

incomplete for eleven utilities. The Coal Transportation Rate Database will be updated when those missing data are received 

from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. In the meantime, statistics that involve transportation rates for 2000 and 

2001 should be considered incomplete and subject to change.

Summary and Discussion

This section describes as background some factors and general trends relevant to coal transportation and the use of this report and 

its spreadsheets. The ideal starting point for recent coal transportation rate statistics is 1979 - the last full year before the passage of 

the 1980 Staggers Rail Act, which largely deregulated the U.S. rail industry. Prior to 1980, rail rates conformed to published tariffs 

regulated by the Interstate Commerce Commission; starting in 1980, common carrier railroads were encouraged to compete for 

business and allowed to set their own freight rates, with much lessened oversight. The earliest data in the CTRDB, EIA's coal 

transportation rate database, are for 1979. Other EIA data, for coal distribution and coal receipts, started much earlier. Because EIA 

was created in late 1977 and because of transitions in and redefinitions of energy data mandates, however, some 1979 statistics are 

not available. On the other hand, EIA coal distribution and coal receipts data are available more promptly than the coal transportation 

rate and associated data from the FERC biennial survey, Form 580. Accordingly, coal distribution and receipts data are presented 

through 2002 whereas FERC Form 580 transportation rate data are available only through 2001. 

Since deregulation, average rates for coal transportation contracts have declined steadily when measured in inflation-adjusted 

dollars, and in some cases even in nominal dollars. The average coal transportation rates per ton, and per ton-mile, are shown below 

in constant, year 2000 dollars. 

Average contract coal transportation rates began to decline about two to five years after implementation of the Staggers Act. The 

rates and related data in the CTRDB and in this report are for coal delivered under contract and exclude spot coal purchases, defined 

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as coal deliveries scheduled for 12 or fewer months. Starting in 1981, constant-dollar rates per ton began to decline but rates per tonmile increased through 1984. Interestingly, this shows that rates per ton (that is "flat rates") during that period were not yet declining. 

The rate per ton-mile was still increasing, but the statistics show that on average shippers were simply purchasing coal less distant 

from their facilities and holding down rates per ton by holding down mileage. This option would not have been universally feasible, 

however, to all shippers depending on the terms defined in existing supply contracts. It can be assumed that during this period many 

existing contract rates were renegotiated and that it took some years before the changes made much difference. 

Users should take into account that the weighted average data in this report are indeed averages, and that individual rates and mine 

price outliers are not depicted. In some cases, they can be found in the CTRDB itself, especially prior to 1996. The rates shown are 

collected primarily from coal burning utilities and are not necessarily the rates available to industrial customers, almost all of whom 

tend to buy coal under smaller supply contracts. 

The data show that customers have experienced a range of differences in coal transportation options during the 1979-2001 period. 

Facilities served by rail can negotiate better rates if there is a competing railroad they can use, or a feasible competing transportation 

mode. "Captive" mines and coal consumers - those located where a single carrier or mode is their only practical transportation 

option - have long claimed that they were offered only higher, take-it-or-leave-it rates. Barges generally offer the least expensive 

transportation rates, and facilities that can take advantage of barge shipment for all or even a significant part of the shipping distance 

can usually temper transportation costs. Different railroads use different rate structures and have in recent years implemented new 

requirements, such as automated loading and unloading equipment or 7-day-per-week loading and unloading, that affect supplier 

and customer overhead costs but are not reflected in rates. Rates charged may be lower for customers that lease or own their own 

fleet of coal cars. 

Rates vary from one region to another, partly because there are different carriers involved, but also because some regions are well 

set up for coal transportation and others are not. Coal regions and coal fields and Census Regions and Census Divisions are defined 

in Figures S2 and S3. 

Figure S2. Coal Regions and Coal Fields

Coal Regions Coal Fields States

Appalachia Northern Appalachia MD, OH, PA, Northern WV

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Central Appalachia Eastern KY, VA, Southern WV

Southern Appalachia AL, TN

Interior Illinois Basin Western KY, IL, IN

Gulf Coast Lignite TX, LA, MS

Other Western Interior AR, IA, KS, MO, OK

West Powder River Basin WY, MT

North Dakota Lignite ND

Southwest AZ, NM

Rockies CO, UT

Northwest AK, WA

 This assignment of Tennessee to the Southern Appalachia coalfield does not conform to current EIA definitions. The coal-producing region of 

Tennessee is properly defined as being partly in the Central Appalachia coalfield and partly in the Southern Appalachia field, the divide 

between them corresponding with the boundary between the old Federally defined Coal Producing Districts 8 and 13. It is not feasible at this 

time to convert the 23 years' data in the CTRDB to the standard coalfield allocations.

Figure S3. Census Regions and Divisions 

Census Regions Census Divisions

Northeast New England + Middle Atlantic 

South South Atlantic + East South Central + West South Central 

Midwest East North Central + West North Central 

West Mountain + Pacific (Contiguous and Noncontiguous) 

 Source: Energy Information Administration, Office of Coal, Nuclear, Electric and Alternate Fuels.

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Infrastructure, trackage, switching facilities, loading equipment, and trained crews are more available in some geographic regions, 

and this certainly can affect rates. Table S1 illustrates changes in the quantities of coal used in Census Divisions between 1979 and 

2002. 

Coal Distribution and Receipts (Full spreadsheets at Tables 1.01 - 1.03) 

EIA's coal distribution data are collected from coal producing and coal sales companies. Responding 

companies identify all coal shipped by State of origin, by destination States, and by the consuming sectors to 

which the coal was sent. Coal distribution statistics span 1979 through 2002 and cover all but the smallest coal 

producers. Although producers and distributors may not be aware of occasional secondary transfers, their 

destination and consuming sector data traditionally represent a credible upper boundary for coal quantities 

supplied to domestic consumers and to exports. Domestic coal distribution increased from 697 million short 

tons (mmst) in 1979 to 1,071 mmst in 2001, declining to 1,051 mmst in 2002 (Table 1.01). 

At the other end of the supply chain, EIA collects coal receipts data from electricity generators, metallurgical coke plants, and other 

industrial consumers. Overall agreement among these data, and with related distribution data, is good. Over time, collection of

receipts data for minor and declining coal consuming sectors, such as agriculture, mining, and transportation, became impractical. 

For that reason, there is no grand total representing all U.S. coal receipts. Figure S4 illustrates the historical relationship between EIA 

coal distribution and coal receipts data at electricity generators. Because electric generation constitutes about 90 percent of U.S. coal 

consumption, Figure S4 closely parallels total domestic coal disposition. 

Table S1. Domestic Coal Distribution to Census Divisions, by Percentage of Total Coal Shipped, 

1979, 1990, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002

Census Division and Year 1979 1990 1999 2000 2001 2002

New England 0.2% 0.6% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.2% 

Middle Atlantic 11.5% 8.4% 6.4% 7.0% 7.2% 6.7%

East North Central 30.9% 23.3% 23.5% 22.6% 22.7% 23.4%

West North Central 11.6% 12.8% 14.7% 13.7% 13.7% 14.9%

South Atlantic 15.6% 17.1% 16.0% 17.4% 17.3% 16.7%

East South Central 12.4% 10.2% 10.7% 10.5% 10.6% 10.4%

West South Central 7.0% 14.2% 15.1% 14.8% 14.5% 14.6%

Mountain 9.5% 11.7% 11.8% 11.4% 11.5% 11.3%

Pacific 1.2% 1.1% 1.4% 1.4% 1.6% 1.6%

Unknown Destination 0.1% 0.6% 0.2% 0.7% 0.6% 0.1%

 Distribution percentages in 1979 do not account for about 4 million short tons of 

Pennsylvania anthracite coal; see Table 1.01 for details. 

 Sources: Energy Information Administration, Coal Distribution, 1990 and (unpublished) 

1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, Tables 6 and 8; 1979, Tables 1, 2, and 10-13.

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Coal distribution and receipts data correlated closely during the past three decades, as shown, for example, in 1979 and 1990. In 

1999 through 2002, reported coal receipts declined atypically in the electricity sector, relative to reported distribution. The

discrepancies were caused by the sale during those years of former utility-owned generating units to independent, deregulated 

companies that were not required to report fuel receipts to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on the FERC Form 423 

survey. Coal receipts by the electricity sector include coal delivered to “NAICS-22” power plants, that is, to establishments engaged 

principally in the provision of electric power, and exclude coal delivered to industrial and commercial facilities that may generate 

electricity as an adjunct to their primary business. Starting in 2002, EIA initiated a new data collection survey, the Form EIA-423, to 

collect fuel receipts data from both electricity sector and industrial or commercial generators with a capacity of 50 megawatts or 

greater. 

The data collected on the new EIA-423 survey substantially reduced the discrepancy in receipts compared to distribution. The 

persistence of a smaller discrepancy is likely attributable to lags between the time when a sold power plant stopped reporting receipts 

to FERC and the time when the plant was picked up on the EIA-423 survey, and by difficulties defining all qualifying survey 

respondents. Adding to the discrepancy was a lapse in statutory authority for FERC’s Form 423 survey in 2001. 

The dark blue bars in Figure S4 show reported coal distribution and illustrate the gap between distribution and reported coal receipts 

from 1999 through 2001. The receipts data are rounded out more fully by adding EIA’s estimates (2000 and 2001) and the author’s

estimate (1999) of coal receipts at nonutilities and nonresponsive FERC-423 utilities (gray hachure-patterned bars). The yellow

hachure-patterned bar segment represents residual non-reporting by utilities and nonutilities even after EIA and FERC-423 surveys 

were resestablished. Since reported coal consumption data were relatively fully reported, non-reporting of coal receipts could be 

approximated by using the electricity sector coal consumption for 1998 through 2002, minus reported coal receipts, adjusted for yearto-year electricity sector stock changes. These differences were added to the 1999 through 2002 coal receipts in Figure S4. 

Discrepancies between coal distribution and receipts data also expanded, beginning in 1999, because increasing tonnages of coal

were processed at coal synfuel plants. Most of the synfuel produced is believed to have been received and consumed, ultimately, at 

electric power plants, with lesser amounts at metallurgical coke plants and other industrial plants (light blue bars, figures S4 to S6). In 

order to preclude double counting of coal and coal synfuel consumption, EIA treats coal transferred to synfuel plants as distributed to 

the Other Industrial sector, where it is transformed (not consumed) into a manufactured fuel product. It is possible that coal producers 

or distributors reported minor amounts of the coal processed at co-located or nearby synfuel plants (many of which were partly 

owned by electric power producers) as distributed to the electricity sector. Further, quantities of coal receipts at coal synfuel plants 

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were not surveyed until the 2001 calendar year, and early response rates were incomplete due to frequent changes in locations and 

ownership of the synfuel plants. 

Figure S5, showing coal distribution and receipts at metallurgical coke plants, reflects the steel industry transition over the past two 

decades to less coke-intensive ways of producing iron and increased use of electric arc furnaces. Electric arc furnaces use scrap iron 

or steel as feedstock, which is remelted, reducing the need for highly coke-dependant blast furnace metal. Coal receipts to produce 

coke for blast furnaces and smelters declined from 78 mmst in 1979 to 24 mmst in 2002. The difference between distribution and 

receipts - 2 to 5 mmst between 2000 and 2002 - may indicate misidentification of the consuming sector for some distribution and/or 

the fact that some of the receipts at coke plants in that period were classified as coal synfuel or came from imported coal. 

For 2001 and 2002, EIA has supplied approximations of synfuel coal receipts at coke plants (Table S5). There was no source of data 

on synfuel coal receipts during that period. EIA used 1998 through 2002 data on total coal delivered to synfuel plants, adjusted by the 

ratio of consumption of normal coal at coke plants to consumption of normal coal for the total U.S. The ratio was 0.061 and the

assumption was that essentially 100 percent by weight of coal received at synfuel plants is converted to salable synfuel during each 

year. 

Figure S6 illustrates the gap, beginning in 2000, between coal distribution and receipts at the Other Industrial sector. In 2000, a clear 

shortfall in receipts data resulted in part from the absence of data collection authority at coal synfuel plants. In 2001 and 2002, with 

receipts at synfuel plants being surveyed, the impact of their operation was evident. By 2002, more than half of all coal received in 

the Other Industrial sector was dedicated to synfuel operations. 

There is the possibility that some of the “coal” receipts seen in the lower, pink bars in Figure S6 included coal synfuel. The 1998 

through 2002 ratio of (normal) coal consumed by other industrial plants to total coal consumed in the U.S. was small: 0.026, or 2.6 

percent. It is reasonable to assume—and there is evidence to support—that some manufacturing plants have consumed synfuel coal. 

If, as with coal, those plants accounted for 2 to 3 percent of total synfuel consumption, from 2000 through 2002 that would equate to 

1 or 2 mmst of coal synfuel annual receipts at industrial plants, that may also have been counted (i.e., double-counted) as receipts at 

the synfuel plants, both within the Other Industrial sector. 

General Coal Transportation Rates, Distances, and Costs 

(Full Spreadsheets at Tables 2.01 - 2.09)

Coal transportation in the United States underwent extensive changes in the years following the Staggers Act. These three sets of 

tables span the years 1979 through 2001. They show the cost-related changes between coal supply and major coal demand regions 

( Tables 2.01 - 2.04) , the changes in shipping distances for coal from the coal field supply regions (Tables 2.05a - 2.05k), and the 

changes in national average rates and costs of transporting contract coal to coal-fired utilities (Tables 2.06 - 2.09). Based on those 

data, the average cost per ton to transport coal in United States (by all modes) peaked in 1981 at $15.60 per short ton and by 2001 

(preliminary data) had declined to $9.01 per short ton, expressed in constant, year 2000 dollars (Table 2.06). That represents a 42 

percent decline in the average contract rate per ton to transport coal to consumers. Table 2.06 shows that contract rail rates did not 

peak until 1984, at $17.52 per short ton, and had also declined by nearly 42 percent, to $10.19 per short ton by 2001 (in constant, 

year 2000 dollars, preliminary data). 

Figure S5. U.S. Coal Distribution vs Receipts for

Metallurgical Coke(Million Short Tons)

Figure S6. U.S. Coal Distribution vs Receipts for the

Other Industrial Sector(Million Short Tons)

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Coal Transportation Statistics by Demand Region (Full spreadsheets at Tables 3.01 - 3.14)

This group of tables includes "snapshots" that gather coal transportation statistics by demand region (Census Division) in 1979, 

1990, 1999, 2000, and 2001, by mode of transport. The tables also show coal tonnages shipped to each demand region in each 

indexed year, in total, by mode of transport, and by coal sulfur content ranges. The last five tables, 3.10 through 3.14, present 

statistics on coal transport costs for the same years but broken out by three ranges in contract size (based on actual tonnage 

shipped). The data in these tables are useful for comparing coal delivery cost differences among regions, over time, and based on 

size of contract. 

Coal Transportation Statistics by Supply Region (Full spreadsheets at Tables 4.01 - 4.11)

In this grouping the tables include "snapshots" of coal transportation statistics assembled by supply region (coal field), for the years 

1979, 1990, 1999, 2000, and 2001. For the five major producing coal fields (Central and Northern Appalachia, the Illinois and Powder 

River Basins, and the Rockies) non-withheld data are sufficient to show trends in transportation rates, which are shown in five sets of 

graphs. The data in the tables are useful for comparing coal delivery cost differences typical of the coal field supply regions, with 

changes over time. The tables show contract coal tonnages shipped from each coal field in each indexed year, in total, by mode of 

transport, and by coal sulfur content ranges. Where available, data for rail data have been added showing the rates and costs, and 

tonnages covered, for contract coal delivered in shipper-owned cars. Over the years, many utilities leased or purchased their own 

fleets of coal cars - usually of higher than average capacity - with the understanding that such shippers would be eligible for lower rail 

rates from the carriers. 

Trends in Coal Transportation Contracts (Full spreadsheets at Tables 5.01 - 5.08)

As recently as 1998, the majority of active coal contracts covered in the CTRDB were, when first signed, written for periods of 11 

years or longer, including 23.1 percent of existing contracts in the CTRDB that had originally been written for 31 years or longer 

(Table 5.02). Contracts written for 35 years were not uncommon in the mid-1970s, and some of those may still be in effect. In view of 

continuously declining coal prices during the 1980s and 1990s, coal customers grew disaffected with new long-term contracts. With 

excess capacity in the coal industry, customers were able to set shorter terms for new contracts or renegotiate old contracts. It 

seemed more practical to coal buyers to limit contracts to 5 to 10 years and be well positioned to lock in later to (presumably) still 

lower prices. Another trend that developed was including"reopeners" in new contracts - options that would permit customers to 

renegotiate prices at set times or per specific financial indices. 

According to EIA statistics, average mine prices for coal (comprising both contract and spot sales) declined steadily throughout the 

1990s. The decline started to reverse in 2000, continued upward during 2001 and 2002, and is expected to have increased again in 

2003. Based on CTRDB data, nearly 97 percent of all new coal contracts written from 1999 through 2001 run for 5 years or less 

(Table 5.07). Anecdotal information indicates that neither coal suppliers nor coal customers wanted longer contracts during those 

years-suppliers because prices in play were too low to sustain economic mining and customers because many electricity producers

were in financial straits, had sufficient coal to postpone major purchases, and were convinced or hopeful that coal prices would 

eventually turn down again. 

Coal Transportation Rate Database, Metrics and Limitations

(Full spreadsheets at Tables 6.01 - 6.04)

This section summarizes the Coal Transportation Rate Data Base (CTRDB), including its content and data sources, data reliability, 

data quality, data availability, and relationship to other data systems and coverage levels. The database can be downloaded at:

http://www.eia.gov/cneaf/coal/ctrdb/database.html. 

History and Database Description

The CTRDB is a comprehensive database that contains electric utility coal supply contract data and 

transportation-related data. The data for this system are part of the detailed "Interrogatory on Fuel and Energy 

Purchase Practices" collected by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Form 580. The 

survey is conducted every 2 years. It requires responses from all jurisdictional utilities that either operate or 

have ownership interest in at least one steam-electric generating station with a capacity of 50 megawatts or 

greater. Jurisdictional utilities, as defined under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978, are facilities 

involved in the transmission of electric energy in interstate commerce and the sale of electric power at 

wholesale in interstate commerce. Jurisdictional utilities must file only if they use the Act’s Fuel Adjustment 

Clause to set electricity rates. 

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Because of its specified authority, FERC collects no information on Form 580 for a significant portion (52 

percent in 2001) of the contract coal consumed at and transported to U.S. electric utilities. In order to improve 

the coverage of the CTRDB and to provide a more comprehensive view of transportation rates, supplementary 

data are obtained from FERC Form 423, "Monthly Report of Cost and Quality of Fuels for Electric Plants,"

and from the Surface Transportation Board (STB), annual "Carload Waybill Sample." The FERC 423 data are 

used to estimate missing transportation rate data using its delivered prices and Form 580 mine prices. For 

utilities not covered by Form 580 at all, the CTRDB has been augmented with confidential transportation rates 

and shipping distances computed from STB waybill samples. 

Starting with the 1998/1999 FERC Form 580 update, EIA opted to include in the CTRDB certain coal 

transportation rate and distance data from the STB Waybill Sample that meet EIA's quality assurance criteria 

but do not match deliveries of record to electric utilities. Such deliveries are believed to go to nearby industrial 

consumers. No actual coal supply contract information is associated with STB waybill data prepared for EIA 

and actual consumers are not identified. EIA uses STB extracts of waybill data by counties of origin and 

destination for coal delivered to counties where Form 580 nonreporting utilities are located, and matches 

waybill delivery data with mine of origin counties and tonnages from FERC Form 423. The conclusion that 

certain waybill data represent coal deliveries to major industrial coal consumers is based on the coal sources 

and quantities and on the existence of industrial development in the destination counties. EIA identifies the 

"Utility" for those data as "Industrial Coal," and assigns dummy contract codes numbered between 5900 and 

5999. 

The FERC Form 580 records contained within the CTRDB are contract- and route-oriented. For each utility plant receiving coal under 

a specific contract, the CTRDB provides an origin-to-destination record for every route over which that plant's coal flows. A contract 

record within the CTRDB can be broken down into four subsets of data fields: contract accounting and specification information, plant 

information, route information, and transportation mode information. A utility company within the database can have several coal 

supply contracts; one coal supply contract can serve several plants; an individual plant can receive coal from one supplier but

sourced at several mines on the same contract; and an individual plant can be covered by several different contracts. Contract 

accounting, coal specifications, transportation and cost factors, and other details are described in the CTRDB file layout and Users 

Manual found in READMEpublic.doc supplied with CTRDB file downloads: http://www.eia.gov/cneaf/coal/ctrdb/database.html. 

Relationship to Other Data Systems and Coverage 

Since the CTRDB is drawn primarily from the FERC Form 580 survey, its data consistency and coverage can 

be described in the context of Form 580 and its relationship to other data systems. The Form 580 survey 

population is a subpopulation within FERC’s survey population for Form 423, "Monthly Report of Cost and 

Quality of Fuels for Electric Utilities." Form 580 covers jurisdictional public utilities while Form 423 covers all 

public utilities, i.e., investor-owned utilities, federally owned utilities, municipalities, and cooperatives. The 

Form 580 survey is conducted every 2 years, while the Form 423 survey is conducted monthly. 

As of 1993, FERC Form 423 covered approximately 235 utilities and 700 fossil-fueled power plants (coal, oil, and natural gas). Of 

those utilities, 173 utilities received coal at 412 power plants. FERC Form 580 in 1993 covered 117 utilities and 292 fossil-fueled 

plants. As of 2001, the Form 423 coverage was down to 198 utilities and 605 fossil-fueled plants, of which 149 utilities and 343 plants 

had coal receipts. The Form 580 coverage for utilities with coal-fired plants was down to 83 utilities at 218 plants. (Coal-fired power 

plants are generally larger than oil- or natural gas-fired plants, so their net generation is relatively larger than the plant counts may 

imply.) Form 580 collects data for utility contract purchases only, however, whereas Form 423 collects data for both contract 

purchases and spot purchases. Spot purchases are purchase orders to obtain coal for a period of less than 1 year. Table 6.01 shows 

the breakout of Form 423 tonnage into contract and spot totals, CTRDB coal tonnages from Form 580 only and augmented with data 

from other sources (see below), and the augmented tonnage as a percentage of both the FERC 423 total tonnage and the FERC 423 

contract tonnage. 

Although both surveys collect data on utility contract purchases of coal, most utilities must report contract purchases on Form 423 but 

many are exempted from Form 580 reporting requirements. Thus, the Form 423 coverage and the contract tonnage reported is 

higher than for Form 580. Contract tonnage is the most useful variable to measure consistency of reporting for the two systems. In 

order to obtain a more comprehensive record of contract tonnage, the Form 580 contract tonnage was augmented with data derived 

from the Surface Transportation Board (STB) Carload Waybill Sample. The resulting contract tonnage in the CTRDB is the 

combination of Form 580 contract tonnage and STB Carload Waybill Sample derived contract tonnage. The total contract coal 

received at U.S. utilities in 2001 was 607.8 mmst according to Form 423. The 289.0 mmst of contract tonnage recorded by the 

CTRDB from Form 580 constitutes 47.6 percent of the Form 423 contract coal receipts. The CTRDB augmented tonnage totaled 

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486.7 mmst in 2001, which would account for 80.1 percent of the Form 423 contract tonnage total. It can be assumed that the 

augmented total includes both contract and spot tonnage because the STB survey does not collect contract information; however, 

the STB data are incorporated into the CTRDB only if they reflect compatible values with the analogous contract data from Form 580. 

Survey differences contribute to four sources of variations between FERC Form 580 and FERC Form 423 data series: (1) differences 

in surveyed populations or statutory requirements, (2) different reporting periods, (3) requirements based on electric generating 

station capacity (steam-electric generating station and peaking units with either 24 megawatts or 50 megawatts minimum nameplate 

capacity could have reported on either survey, depending on the requirements at the time), and (4) data reporting procedures, data 

recording, and processing procedures for the two systems. 

Data Reliability and Quality

The FERC manages all quality control issues, mandates the type of data collected, and handles nonresponses and respondent 

contact records for the FERC Form 580. Quality assurance measures in the extraction of data from Form 580 responses are handled

by the EIA, but EIA is not authorized to contact Form 580 respondents. Efforts are made to rectify coding errors, tabulation errors, 

keying errors, and problems of data interpretation. Because the data are not collected primarily for input into the CTRDB, however, 

FERC 580 responses may contain estimates or averages of transportation rates for several shipments under one contract and 

estimates of volumes and distances of shipments. 

An error detection and correction program is used to detect and correct errors that escape manual screening. This program consists 

of a set of ranges and range checks for all quantitative data fields within the database. The range values were established in 

coordination with FERC personnel. When the database is evaluated using this program, values that fall outside of pre-established 

ranges are identified for investigation. Internal inconsistencies are corrected using a program that compares values from year to year 

to detect outliers based on the series of values. This program also resolves problems of record redundancy. Table presentations are 

also examined for regional and national transportation data consistencies. Data record printouts are reviewed and outliers are 

eliminated where deemed necessary. 

For a few specific demand regions, supply regions, and/or transportation modes, time series data vary considerably from one year to 

the next. In most cases, this appears to be due to the small number of records for which transportation rate data were available for 

that particular region or transportation mode. In those cases, fluctuations in tonnage or rates for one contract could have a 

substantial influence on the regional average. This situation occurs most frequently for shipments from the "Other Western Interior" 

region and for shipments by truck and "other" transportation modes (primarily conveyors). 

Data Availability

The CTRDB data are based on public use data from the FERC 580 for the years 1979 through 1987 and both public use and 

confidential data for 1988 through 2001. For the years 1979 through 2001, data that were unavailable for public use due to 

confidentiality consisted of coal transportation rates and mine price. Also, some records did not have complete data. To minimize the 

skewing of statistical calculations, records with missing data were excluded from certain calculations. Furthermore, an effort was 

made to increase the availability of data through derivation in two ways: (1) when two of the three cost data elements were available, 

the third one was derived from the available data; i.e., if mine price and delivered price were available, the transportation rate was 

derived by subtracting the mine price from the delivered price; and (2) certain FERC 580 confidential data were made available for 

the years 1988 through 2001 under an agreement between EIA and the FERC to display the confidential data only in an aggregated 

form. A similar arrangement with the STB protects confidentiality of waybill data extracts by displaying results only in aggregated 

forms. 

The availability of data on coal transportation rate per ton, distance, and tonnage is important because these variables are used in 

the calculation of the average distance shipped, average transportation rate per ton, and average transportation rate per ton-mile. 

Tables 6.02, 6.03, and 6.04 show the number of records and tonnage contained in the CTRDB, the number of records and tonnage 

obtained from Form 580, the number of supplementary records and tonnage in addition to Form 580, and the number of records and 

tonnage with incomplete data. The data for Tables 6.02, 6.03, and 6.04 include all transportation modes. 

The incomplete data in Table 6.02 represent records that do not contain data for the distance shipped. The tonnages for these 

records are not included in the calculation for average distance. In 2001 there were only 29 records out of 727 that did not contain 

data for distance, as a result 39.6 mmst of coal were disqualified from the average distance shipped calculation. 

Similarly, the incomplete data for Table 6.03 represent records that do not contain data for the transportation rate per ton. In 2001 

there are currently 342 records that do not contain transportation rate data and 125.5 mmst are disqualified from the calculation of 

average transportation rate per ton mile. Note, however, that additional data from eleven utilities with incomplete rate data in 2000 

and 2001 are being sought by FERC and are expected soon. 

Table 6.04 shows the data available for the calculation of the average transportation rate per ton-mile. The incomplete data for Table 

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6.04 takes into account records that are missing both distance data and transportation rate data. Since this is a summation of data 

from Tables 6.02 and 6.03 there are more incomplete records (371) and tonnage (165.1 mmst) disqualified for the calculation of the 

average transportation rate per ton-mile. Again, the additional data from eleven utilities is expected soon and will help correct the 

thinness of 2000 and 2001 rate data. 

 

Summary of Validated Utility Coal Contracts in 2001 (Table 7.01)

Table 7.01 summarizes the coal supply contracts reported via the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

(FERC) Form 580. The contract information in Table 7.01 covers the 2001 reporting year, organized by 

electric utility company, power plant, and contract expiration date. 

Coal supply contracts usually last for 1 year or longer and are binding agreements between coal consumers and coal producers or

brokers. Provisions of coal supply contracts typically include: 

 Term, or length, of contract, possibly with extension provisions 

 Minimum quantity to be purchased 

 Sources of the coal and its quality characteristics 

 Base transportation rate, in dollars per ton, as of the contract effective date 

 Rate adjustment provisions, used to adjust transportation rates for inflation or deflation. 

Other items covered by a contract agreement may include coal price, coal quality incentives or penalties, supplier identification, coal 

production location, contract sign and expiration dates, and renewal and renegotiation options. 

Contact: 

 George Warholic 

 Phone: 202- 586-2307 

 Email: George Warholic

 

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