§6216 Annual Home Heating Readiness Reports

Summary

By September 1 each year, the Secretary, using the Energy Information Agency, must send Congress a Home Heating Readiness Report that checks how ready the natural gas, heating oil, and propane industries are to supply fuel in different weather, including rapid temperature drops. The report must give estimates for October through March of consumption, spending, and average price (per gallon for heating oil and propane, per thousand cubic feet for natural gas) for different regions and weather, especially extreme weather. It must review supplies, refinery and storage capacity and use, transportation, weather, market problems, and other factors that could affect supplies and prices. It must include steps the Federal, State, and local governments can take to prevent or ease sharp and sustained price increases for natural gas, heating oil, and propane, and steps companies in production, refining, storage, and transport can take to prevent or ease sharp and sustained price increases for heating oil and propane. The Secretary may ask those companies for information needed to prepare the report.