This report was prepared by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the statistical and
analytical agency within the U.S. Department of Energy. By law, EIA’s data, analyses, and forecasts are
independent of approval by any other officer or employee of the United States Government. The views
in this report therefore should not be construed as representing those of the Department of Energy or
other Federal agencies.
U.S. Energy Information Administration | Quarterly Coal Distribution Report 4th Quarter 2017iii
Quarterly Coal Distribution Table Format and Data Sources
In keeping with EIA’s efforts to increase the timeliness of its reports, this Quarterly Coal Distribution Report is a preliminary
report, based on the most current data available from EIA’s various monthly, quarterly, and annual surveys of the coal
industry and electric power generation industry. The final report will rely on the receipt of annual data to replace the
imputed monthly data for smaller electric power plants that are excluded from the monthly filing requirement, and final
data for all other respondents.
The Quarterly Coal Distribution Report traces coal from the origin state to the destination state by transportation mode.
The data sources beginning with the 2008 Coal Distribution Report reflect a major revision to EIA data collection surveys.
The Form EIA-6A, “Coal Distribution Report – Annual,” was discontinued at the end of 2007 and the new Form EIA-923,
“Power Plant Operations Report” became the source of data for the electric power sector.
The Electric Power sector in this report includes electric utilities, independent power producers, and electric utility
combined heat and power plantsmercial combined heat and power and industrial combined heat and power plants,
which also submit data on the Form EIA-923, are included in the industrial plants (excluding coke) and commercial and
institutional sectors. Coal receipts as provided in the Quarterly Coal Distribution Report for the electric power sector are
less than the total quantities reported on the Form EIA-923. The Quarterly Coal Distribution Report reflects domestic
distribution of coal. Therefore, coal imports from the EIA-923 survey are excluded. Other excluded categories are waste
coal for the electric power sector, plus all receipts for the commercial combined heat and power and industrial combined
heat and power plants.
At the end of the second quarter of 2014, the old Form EIA-3, “Quarterly Coal Consumption and Quality Report,
Manufacturing and Transformation / Processing Coal Plants and Commercial and Institutional Coal Users” and the Form EIA-
5, “Quarterly Coal Consumption and Quality Report – Coke Plants” were both discontinued. A new Form EIA-3, “Quarterly
Survey of Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional Coal Users” became the source of data for coke plants, industrial plants
(excluding coke), and commercial and institutional facilities.
Coal distributed to coke plants is obtained from the Form EIA-3, “Quarterly Survey of Industrial, Commercial, and
Institutional Coal Users.” The volume of coal distributed to coke plants excludes coal imports and is thus smaller than the
volume of receipts at coke plants reported in the Quarterly Coal Report, which includes imports.
Coal distributed to industrial plants (excluding coke) is obtained from the Form EIA-3, “Quarterly Survey of Industrial,
Commercial, and Institutional Coal Users” and Form EIA-7A, “Annual Survey of Coal Production and Preparation.” The
Quarterly Coal Distribution Report volume reported for industrial plants (excluding coke) is smaller than the volume of
receipts at industrial plants in the QCR to the extent that the Coal Distribution Report excludes waste coal and imports.
Beginning in 2008, the residential and commercial consuming sector was replaced by the commercial and institutional
sector, which excludes the residential sector and small amounts of coal used in the transportation fuel sector (primarily
tourist steam railroads). Commercial and institutional coal distribution is also obtained from the Form EIA-3, “Quarterly
Survey of Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional Coal Users.”
Previously, on the EIA-6A survey, it was not possible to identify refuse or waste coal,1 which was included in anthracite and
bituminous distributions. Waste coal receipts are collected and separately identified on the EIA-923 survey and are
especially significant in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The Quarterly Coal Distribution Report excludes waste coal and
small volumes of synthetic coal that may have been distributed after all synthetic coal plants were closed.
1 Waste coal: Usable material that is a byproduct of previous coal processing operations.Waste coal is usually composed of mixed coal,
soil, and rock (mine waste).Most waste coal is burned as-is in unconventional fluidized-bed combustors.For some uses, waste coal may
be partially cleaned by removing some extraneous noncombustible constituents.Examples of waste coal include fine coal, coal obtained
from a refuse bank or slurry dam, anthracite culm, bituminous gob, and lignite waste.
iv U.S. Energy Information Administration | Quarterly Coal Distribution Report 4th Quarter 2017
The most recent Quarterly Coal Distribution Report (QCDR) detailed data files and reports are available from the EIA
website located at the following URL:
eia.gov/coal/distribution/quarterly/
QCDR detailed data files and reports for previous quarters are available from the EIA website located at the following URL:
eia.gov/coal/distribution/quarterly/back_q_distributions.html
The most recent Annual Coal Distribution (ACDR) is available from the EIA website located at the following URL:
eia.gov/coal/distribution/annual/
ACDR detailed data files and reports for previous years are available from the EIA website located at the following URL:
eia.gov/coal/distribution/annual/archive.html。