Coal Transportation Rate Database (CTRDB)

The CTRDB is a comprehensive database that contains electric utility coal supply contract data and transportation-related data. The data for this system are originally collected by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Form 580, "Interrogatory on Fuel and Energy Purchase Practices," to conduct reviews of certain utility fuel and energy purchase practices as mandated by the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (Public Law 95-617), which amended Section 205 of the Federal Power Act of 1920.  The survey is conducted every 2 years.  It requires responses from all jurisdictional utilities that either operate at least one steam-electric generating station of 50 megawatts or greater capacity, or have an ownership interest in a jointly-owned steam-electric station of 50 megawatts or greater capacity, and that may claim changes to regulated power rates under FERC’s Fuel Use Adjustment Clause.  Jurisdictional utilities are investor-owned and sell electric power at wholesale to other utilities.  Records with contract codes '9300-9999' contain data obtained from the Surface Transportation Board to supplement the CTRDB.

Coding Instructions

Util Code- Utility Code:A 5-digit code that is unique to the Utility Name. 

Util Name- Utility Name:Upper and lower case name, 32 characters in length that matches the Utility Code.  For STB data, EIA has supplied presumed Utility and Plant Names and codes, based on STB Destination County; or Utility Name field may indicate 'STB Tariff Data.'

Contract- Contract Code:A 4-digit code.  If no FERC contract code applies, a number greater than 9300 is assigned.

Year- Activity Year:A 4-digit code that represents the year the data represent.

Yr Signed- Date Signed:A 4-digit code that represents the year the contract was signed.

Yr Exp- Date Expired:A 4-digit code that represents the year the contract expired.

Yr Mod- Date Modified:A 4-digit code that represents the year the contract was modified.

Tons Low- Tons Contracted Lower limit:An 8-digit number that represents the minimum tonnage agreed upon within the contract.

Tons Up- Tons Contracted Upper limit:An 8-digit number that represents the maximum tonnage agreed upon within the contract.

BTU Low- Btus Contracted Lower Limit:A 5-digit number that represents lowest Btu acceptable within the contract.

BTU Up- Btus Contracted Higher Limit:A 5-digit number that represents highest Btu acceptable within the contract.

Sulf Low, Sulf Up, Ash Low, Ash Up, Moist Low, and Moist Up - Contracted coal quality specifications:The next six fields are the low and high specifications for the Sulfur, Ash, and Moisture of the contract coal shipments.  Each field is a 5-digit code with two places to the right of the decimal (XXX.XX).                   

Note: Upper and lower limits contracted for Btu, Sulfur, Ash, and Moisture are requested on Form 580, but in many cases limits are not submitted for all categories.  EIA enters data as upper or lower limits, exactly as submitted.  Many respondents supply only one value for each coal specification, frequently reporting all as lower limits.  Based on data for coal shipments actually received and accepted, in most cases the single specifications for coal characteristics are intended and lower limits for Btu and as upper limits for Sulfur, Ash, and Moisture.

Contractor- Contractor Name:Upper and lower case name, 20 characters in length, the coal supplier.

Mine- Mine Name:Upper and lower case name, 20 characters in length.   'Various' or 'various mines' indicates that no mine name was given on the form.

ORST- Origin State Code:A 2-digit code that is unique to the State where the coal originates.  To find this code, see Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS).

ORSTN- Origin State Name:Upper case abbreviation, 2 characters in length, that is unique to the Origin State Code.  To find this abbreviation, see FIPS.

OrCTY- Origin County Code:A 3-digit code that represents the county of origin within the state where the coal originates.  To find this code, see FIPS.

BOM District- BOM District:A 2-digit code that corresponds to the Bureau of Mines (BOM) coal-producing districts numbers.

Plant Name - Plant Name:Upper and lower case name, 20 characters in length, that must match the Plant Code. For STB data, EIA has supplied presumed Plant Names and Codes based on the STB Destination County; if that is not feasible, ‘STB destination’ may appear in this field.

Plant Code- FERC Plant Code:A FERC-assigned 4-digit code that is unique to the Plant Name.  The STB data that have no Plant Name or FERC match use a code of '0000.'

Dest State- Destination State Code: 2-digit code that is unique to the State where the coal is destined. To find this code, see FIPS.

Dest State- Destination State Name:Upper case abbreviation, 2 characters in length that is unique to the Destination State Code.  To find this abbreviation, see FIPS.

Dest County- Destination County Code:A 3-digit code that represents the county of destination within the State of destination.  To find this code, see FIPS.

Tons Shipped -Tons Shipped, or “VOLUME”:An 8-digit number representing tons shipped in the Activity Year via each route used (as many as 99 Routes could be coded).  When there are multiple Routes, each is assigned an arbitrary Route number, and Tons Shipped is entered for each route.  If Tons Shipped are not reported by Routes, the VOLUME is treated as the sum of all Routings, and is divided equally among the Routes.

Note:  In addition to “VOLUME” (Tons Shipped), Mine Price, Delivered Price, and Total Distance may differ by Route.  If no differences are submitted, the same Mine Price, Delivered Price and/or Total Distance is assigned to each Route.

FOB Mine Rate- FOB Mine Price:A 6-digit field with 2 places to the right of the decimal (XXXX.XX), the price of coal at the mine for each route used.

FOB Mine Unit- FOB Mine Unit:A 1-digit field indicating the units in which mine price is expressed:

'1' - $/T  (Dollars per TON)

'2' - C/E6 (Cents per Million BTU)

'3' - $/E6 (Dollars per Million BTU)

Rate conversion to $/T:If the rate is in C/E6, then

$/T= ((2 x rate) x BTU)/100,000)

If the rate is in $/E6, then

$/T= ((2 x rate) x BTU)/1,000)

FOB Plant Rate- Delivered Price:  A 6-digit field with 2 places to the right of the decimal (XXXX.XX), the price of coal at destination for each Route used. 

FOB Plant Unit- Delivered Price Unit:A 1-digit field indicating the units in which delivery price is expressed.  See code list above.

BTUs Shipped- Btu:A 5-digit field representing the Btu of the coal shipped via each Route.

Sulfur Shipped, Ash Shipped, Moisture Shipped- Coal quality of the coal shipped:The next three fields are 5-digit codes for the Sulfur, Ash and Moisture content of the coal shipped via each Route, with 2 places to the right of the decimal point (expressed as percent by weight).

Note:  Btu, Sulfur, Ash, and Moisture typically do not vary by Route.

Route Number- Number of Routes:A 2-digit field indicating the number of routes used under this contract to ship coal to the plants. 

Number of Modes- Number of Links:A 1-digit field indicating the number of transportation links or modes per route (1,2,3,4).  The number of links entered is limited to four.

Total Distance- Total Distance:A 6-digit field with 1 place to the right the decimal (XXXXX.X).  It represents the distance of an entire route.

*Mode1 (Mode2, Mode3, Mode4)- Modes:The mode information corresponds to the mode number for each route.

a.   Unit train'L1,L2,L3,L4'

b.   Independent Unit Trains'R1,R2,R3,R4'

c.   Multiple Carload'M1,M2,M3,M4'

d.   Other Carload'X1,X2,X3,X4'

e.   Trainload'TL'

f.   Single Carload'S'

g.   Barge'B'

h.   Collier'C'

i.   Truck'T'

j.   Conveyor'V'

k.   Pipeline'P'

*Note:DATA FIELDS STARTING WITH “MODE” AND ENDING WITH “TRANSFER LOCATION” MAY BE RECURRING, WITH ADDITIONAL MODE INFORMATION, UP TO 4 MODES.)

Note:  Mode letters a, b, c, d or e do not occur together in a single 

route (e.g. L1,R1,M1,TL,R2,M3 and S represent different train

configurations and would not be mixed).

L1,L2,L3,L4:Used when multiple railroad companies

were WORKING TOGETHER on the same route,

serving the same power plant.

Used when there were 80 or more coal cars per 

train.

R1,R2,R3,R4:Used when multiple railroad companies delivered 

the coal and were NOT WORKING TOGETHER.

They worked independently of each other, on

different route or the same route, serving

the same power plant.

Any number of coal cars may have been used.

TL:The same conditions as Unit Train, but used when there were 50-79 coal cars per train.

X1,X2,X3,X4:The same conditions as Unit Train, but used

when there were 11-49 coal cars per train.

M1,M2,M3,M4:The same conditions as Unit Train, but when 2-10

coal cars were used to ship the coal.

S:Used when the coal was shipped using

ONE coal car.

B:Used when the coal was shipped on rivers by barge.

C:Used when the coal was shipped by collier over coastal waters or any of the Great Lakes.

T:Used when coal was shipped by truck.

V:Used when coal was shipped by conveyor.

*Owner1 (Owner2, Owner3, Owner4)- Ownership:A '1' is entered if any part of the transportation mode was owned by the utility company of the plant, otherwise '0'.

*Distance1 (Distance2, Distance 3, Distance 4)- Distance:A 6-digit field with 1 place to the right of the decimal (XXXXX.X).  Represents the distance the mode traveled on the route.  NOTE:  If distance by mode is not reported, total distance is entered at Distance 1 and zeroed distances are entered for any subsequent modes, except in earlier years, when the contemporary computer system necessitated entering a negative 1 value. 

*Rate of Mode1 (-Mode2, -Mode3, -Mode4)- Rate:A 6-digit field with 2 places to the right of the decimal (XXXXX.XX).  Represents the transportation rate via this mode and route.

*Unit of Rate1 (-Rate2, -Rate3, -Rate4)- Rate Unit:A 1-digit field indicating the unit of the transportation rate. See “FOB Mine Unit” above.

*Transfer Fee Mode1 (-Mode2, -Mode3, -Mode4)- Transfer Fee:A 6-digit field with 2 places to the right of the decimal (XXXX.XX).  The fee must be carried two decimal places.

Note:  When a transfer fee is reported, the fee is entered in the space provided for the mode the coal is transferred from.  Original carrier of the coal pays the transfer fees.  Represents the transfer cost only, NOT the dumping or unloading costs.

*Transfer Fee Unit1 (-Unit2, -Unit3, -Unit4):See “FOB Mine Unit” above.

*Shipping-Included Flag1 (-Flag2, -Flag3, -Flag4) – Shipping-Included Flag:A 1-digit field.  When the transportation cost is included in the price of the coal a '1' is entered; otherwise, blank.

*Contract Year1 (-Year2, -Year3, -Year4)- Contract Year:4-digit code that represents the year the contract was signed.

*MMP Flag1 (-Flag2, -Flag3, -Flag4) – Mine-Mouth Flag:1-digit field. When the plant is a mine-mouth plant, a '1' is entered; otherwise, blank.

*Transf. Loc. of Mode1 (-of Mode2, -of Mode3, -of Mode4) - Transfer location:  Upper and lower case, 12-character field. Used if a transfer location is given.

*****Note: DATA FIELDS STARTING WITH “MODE” AND ENDING WITH “TRANSFER LOCATION” MAY BE RECURRING, WITH ADDITIONAL MODE INFORMATION, UP TO 4 MODES.)

Source - Data Source:A 1-digit code indicating where the data were collected, the confidentiality of the data, and whether transportation rates were derived from delivered price minus mine price:

F-FERC, all data unrestricted

G-FERC, all data derived, all data unrestricted

C-FERC, rate and FOB mine price data Confidential

D-FERC, rate data derived, rate and FOB mine price dataConfidential

I-Surface Transportation Board (STB, or old ICC), rates and distances are from Waybills, rates always Confidential

J-STB, rate data derived, other data from STB

Contract Type - Contract Type:A 3-digit field containing one number code  representing the type of contract.  Use the table below to code:

CodeMeaning

   1Base Price Plus Escalation

   2Price Renegotiation

   3Price Tied to Market

   4Cost-Plus Contract with a Fixed Fee Provision

   5Cost-Plus Contract with an Incentive Fee Provision

   6Other

   7Fixed-Price Contract

CAA Boiler - CAA Affected Boilers:A 2-digit field containing the number of boilers at this plant that were targeted for SO2 emission reductions in Phase I of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.

Tariff – Tariff:An unused field.

Transco1 (Transco2, Transco3, Transco4 - Transportation Company:A seven-character field containing an abbreviated name of the transportation company used for the mode.  Each occurrence is linked to a mode number. 

COAL TRANSPORTATION RATE DATA BASE CONTACT PERSON:

Rich Bonskowski202-287-1725, or Richard.Bonskowski@eia.doe.gov

                Coal Transportation Rate Data Base

                     Main Frame File Layout

Data Name           Length         A/N       POSITION

UTILCODE            5              N         1-5

UTILNAME            32             A         6-37

CONTCODE            4              N         38-41

ACTYEAR             4              N         42-45

DATESIGN            4              N         46-49

DATEEXPD            4              N         50-53

DATEMOD             4              N         54-57

TONCL               8              N         58-65

TONCU               8              N         66-73

BTUCL               5              N         74-78

BTUCU               5              N         79-83

SULFCL              5.2            N         84-88

SULFCU              5.2            N         89-93

ASHCL               5.2            N         94-98

ASHCU               5.2            N         99-103

MOISTCL             5.2            N         104-108

MOISTCU             5.2            N         109-113

CONTNAME            20             A         114-133

MINENAME            20             A         134-153

STORIGIN            2              N         154-155

ORIGSTCH            2              A         156-157

CTORIGIN            3              N         158-160

BOMDIST             2              N         161-162

PLANTNAM            20             A         163-182

PLANTNO             4              N         183-186

STDEST              2              N         187-188

STDESTCH            2              A         189-190

CTDEST              3              N         191-193

VOLUME              8              N         194-201

MINEPRIC            6.2            N         202-207

MPUF                1              N         208

DELPRICE            6.2            N         209-214

DPUF                1              N         215

BTU                 5              N         216-220

SULFUR              5.2            N         221-225

ASH                 5.2            N         226-230

MOIST               5.2            N         231-235

ROUTE               2           N         236-237

NLINKS              1              N         238

TDIST               6.1            N         239-244

MODE1               2              A         245-246

OWNER1              1              N         247

DIST1               6.1            N         248-253

TRATE1              6.2            N         254-259

UNITSR1             1              N         260

LOADFEE1            6.2            N         261-266

UNITSF1             1              N         267

SHIPINC1            1              N         268

CONYR1              4              N         269-272

MMPFLAG1            1              N         273

TRLOC1              12             A         274-285

MODE2               2              A         286-287

OWNER2              1              N         288

DIST2               6.1            N         289-294

TRATE2              6.2            N         295-300

UNITSR2             1              N         301

LOADFEE2            6.2            N         302-307

UNITSF2             1              N         308

SHIPINC2            1              N         309

CONYR2              4              N         310-313

MMPFLAG2            1              N         314

TRLOC2              12             A         315-326

MODE3               2              A         327-328

OWNER3              1              N         329

DIST3               6.1            N         330-335

TRATE3              6.2            N         336-341

UNITSR3             1              N         342

LOADFEE3            6.2            N         343-348

UNITSF3             1              N         349

SHIPINC3            1              N         350

CONYR3              4              N         351-354

MMPFLAG3            1              N         355

TRLOC3              12             N         356-367

MODE4               2              A         368-369

OWNER4              1              N         370

DIST4               6.1            N         371-377

TRATE4              6.2            A         378-382

UNITSR4             1              N         383

LOADFEE4            6.2            N         384-389

UNITSF4             1              N         390

SHIPINC4            1              N         391

CONYR4              6.2            N         392-395

MMPFLAG4            1              N         396

TRLOC4              12             A         397-408

SOURCE              1              A         409

CONTTYPE            3              A         410-412 

CAABOILR            2              N         413-414

TARIFF             12              A         415-426

TRANSCO1            7              A         427-433

TRANSCO2            7              A         434-440

TRANSCO3            7              A         441-447

TRANSCO4            7              A         448-454