U.S. Energy Information Administration Independent Statistics & Analysis www.eia.gov

Hidden gems, early previews, and backstage secrets 

of EIA.gov

Office of Communications

June 5, 2018
Today you’ll be hearing from—

Melinda Hobbs, Director, Office of Web Management

• Continuous improvements to EIA.gov

Dale Sweetnam, Content Operations Team Lead 

• Social media

Pauline George, Senior Web Project Manager 

• Partnership projects

Steve Luminati, Web Design and Development Team Lead

• Expansion of EIA’s online product suite and a sneak peak at what’s coming next....
Continuous improvements to EIA.gov

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EIA.gov

—then 

Launched in 1995, EIA.gov 

was the Department of 

Energy’s first website, 

consisting of—

• 200 files of all types • A few dozen web pages

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June 5, 2018

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On July 1, 1995—the day EIA.gov 

launched—it garnered a total of seven 

user sessions. 
EIA.gov—now 

Today, the site—

• Averages more than 1 million visits per month

• Receives record high customer satisfaction levels—91% of 

respondents last year said they are satisfied or very satisfied 

with the quality of information, with 30% indicating they were 

very satisfied 

• Consists of 270,000 web pages and houses 750,000 files

• Publishes on its homepage “Today in Energy,” EIA’s daily 

coverage of current issues and data trends; along with 75 

other recurring products, and thousands of analysis reports.

• Serves up email newsletters on 43 topics to more than 

575,000 subscribers

• Is part of an ever-expanding range of digital formats and 

information delivery platforms—including social media, an 

application programming interface, and interactive mapping—

that EIA has implemented to expand access to its information. 

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In 2017, we updated 66,514 files on 

EIA.gov at least once
To help you find what you are looking 

for more easily, we’ve: • Implemented a tagging system across 

all our products (based on the proven 

Today in Energy tagging model)

• Refined site-wide architecture and 

search methodologies

• Highlighted some of our more 

obscure—but useful—products 

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Office of Communications 

June 5, 2018

Increasing “findability”

find·a·bil·i·tyn

• The quality of being locatable or navigable. • The degree to which a particular object is 

easy to discover or locate.
Introducing a more mobile-friendly EIA.gov

Making EIA.gov readable on any 

screen size—without having to pinch 

or expand

Currently in phased implementation:

• Launched on the homepage

• Next delivery: second-level pages

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Office of Communications 

June 5, 2018
Social media

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Social media • Not just sharing and 

promoting EIA 

products and 

resources.

• EIA’s Flickr page and 

YouTube channel 

provide valuable tools 

for energy 

professionals.

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Office of Communications 

June 5, 2018
Social media 

- Flickr

• An easier way for users to 

search for EIA’s data 

visualizations.

• Search for images by state, 

topic, or energy source. 

• Graphics link to the original 

report or article.

• Nearly 2,000 EIA images.

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Office of Communications 

June 5, 2018
Social media - Flickr

• Find EIA images in only a few 

clicks. 

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Office of Communications 

June 5, 2018
Social media - YouTube

• More than 50 videos on EIA’s 

YouTube channel, and more are 

on the way.

• Find videos about new EIA 

products, recorded webinars, 

product demonstrations, and 

other informational energy videos. 

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June 5, 2018
Partnership projects

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National Oil and Gas Gateway – www.noggateway.org

• Collaborative initiative with the 

Groundwater Protection Council 

(GWPC).

• Provides a public single national 

data source of oil & gas welllevel information.

• Over a million wells are updated 

monthly from 9 states.

• Data included: well 

identification, production data, 

completion information, geologic 

information, well test data, 

underground injection control 

data, and hydraulic fracturing 

data provided by FracFocus.

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Office of Communications 

June 5, 2018
North American Cooperation on Energy Information 

Initiative – www.nacei.org

• Collaborative effort between United 

States, Canadian, and Mexican 

energy statistic agencies.

• Energy trade data and maps are 

updated twice yearly.

• Features a cross reference of 

energy terminology defined by 

each country and international 

energy organizations.

• All content on the website is 

available in English, Spanish and 

French.

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Office of Communications 

June 5, 2018
Expansion of EIA’s online product suite 

and sneak peak at what’s coming next

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June 5, 2018 16
What it is: 

• More than 60 interactive layers, using GIS data, 

including real-time feeds from NOAA and FEMA.

Currently in:

• Always in active evolution

• Recently Added:

– Wind turbine data

Sources: USGS, Lawrence Berkley National Lab, American 

Wind Energy Association

– Improved resolution for electric power transmission 

lines

Source: FGDC.go

U.S. Energy Mapping System

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June 5, 2018 19
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June 5, 2018 20
What’s Next:

• Energy Disruptions Layers

– Wildfires

– Floods

– Earthquakes

– Volcanoes & fire hazard areas

• Analysis Features

• ETA: Maybe / soon

(Sourcing & validating data)

Lava flows from Kilauea volcano near Puna Geothermal Venture power 

plant, May 21, 2018.

Mapping: New disruption additions

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June 5, 2018 21
What it is: 

• Most generating plants use water in 

some way.

• Adds water consumption, discharge, 

source, rates, and other data to our 

first interactive web tool.

Currently in:

• Beta Testing

Expected launch:

• Now in beta. Official launch: soon(?)

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Water data now available through the Electricity Data Browser
The U.S. Electric System 

Operating Data Tool • Provides a single view of the U.S. electric grid • Features nearly real-time demand data—plus 

analysis and visualizations—for all 67 electric 

system balancing authorities. 

• Informs electricity providers, policymakers, and the 

public about hourly electricity demand, generation, 

and flows.

• Can also be used to find information about the 

electric system’s recovery after a hurricane or 

other widespread power interruption.

• Now in public launch of version 1.

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June 5, 2018 23
What it is: 

• Adding energy mix and higher 

resolution for sub balancing 

authorities

Currently in:

• Whiteboard & data gathering

Expected launch:

• Beta in November 2018 (?)

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June 5, 2018 24

U.S. Electric System Operating Data Tool—phase 2
Coming soon—State Energy Portal 4.0

What it is: 

• Enhancements to provide regional 

data, timelier data, ability to 

customize and filter, more 

visualizations, new ways to find 

information and options to export 

data.

Currently in: 

• Development – refining user 

experience, implementing features, 

identifying other state-applicable 

EIA and non-EIA data sources.

Expected launch: 

• ~ Fall 2018 (?)

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Office of Communications 

June 5, 2018

Intuitive 

Infographics

Customizable 

Dashboards, 

Easier Navigation, 

State Rankings 

and more
Coming soon(ish)—Petroleum Data Browser

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June 5, 2018

Current

Mock-up

What it is: 

• An update to the current format to 

provide more data and 

functionality 

Currently in: 

• Development—modernizing our 

data collection & processing

Next steps: 

• Start on UX design.

• We’ll be looking for usability 

testing volunteers in early 2019.
Coming soon— Weekly Natural Gas Storage Dashboard

What it is:

• Weekly natural gas storage 

visualizations and 

commentary on national and 

regional levels with data from 

EIA and outside sources.

Currently in:

• Development and feature 

refinement.

Expected launch:

• Summer 2018

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June 5, 2018

.....and much more
Open data program

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214,268,982 API requests in 2017

This far outweighs the number of page views on 

the EIA.gov website (48,880,685)

17,978 unique API keys 

Still very much a power users’ tool, but those 

who use it do so enthusiastically

Add-Ons for MS Excel and Google Sheets

Automatically ingest EIA & FRED data directly into 

your own spreadsheets for fast analysis.

Office of Communications 

June 5, 2018

Open data program

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Embed EIA Graphs & Charts 

Include EIA’s graphics and charts on your website, 

with on-the-fly data updates and easy setup.

1.8 million time series organized into 93,000 categories
• More data series into API

– Drilling Productivity Report

– Consumption: RECS, MECS, CBECS

– Natural gas company-level data

• Widespread, automated API publishing

• Better analytics and flow controls

• Update Excel add-in

Office of Communications 

June 5, 2018

Open data—what’s next 

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Office of Communications 

June 5, 2018

A word on release dates in this presentation...

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Questions? Comments? 

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Office of Communications 

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