Energy Indicators for Sustainable Development: Guidelines and Methodologies International Atomic Energy Agency United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs International Energy Agency Eurostat European Environment Agency

(b) Measuring Methods: Because prices change through the year, the data collected 
must refer to a fixed date; 1 January of each year is proposed. 
Three price levels should be distinguished: prices including all taxes; prices excluding 
deductible taxes (normally only deductible for industry); and prices excluding all 
taxes. If possible, subsidies for different consumers should also be identified, though 
in practice this can prove to be extremely difficult, as the subsidies are often hidden in 
complicated tariff systems. 
In general, prices are collected in national currencies and can be converted to a 
common unit, usually US dollars. Exceptions would be fuels such as aviation fuel, 
which is often billed directly in US dollars. A further refinement is to deflate prices to 
allow for inflation. In order to deflate the price series, the consumer price indices 
should be used for household prices, including pump prices of gasoline and diesel, 
and the industrial price indices (or gross domestic product [GDP], if industrial indices 
are not available) should be used for industrial prices. 
Prices should be collected for the following products, in so far as these are commonly 
available on the market in the country: 
Petroleum Products: 
• Automotive fuel: 
– Premium unleaded gasoline. 
– Premium leaded gasoline. 
– Automotive gasoil (diesel). 
• Heavy fuel oil (residual fuel oil), for industry. 
• Light fuel oil (heating gasoil), for households. 

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• Kerosene, for households. 
• Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), for households. 
Measurement: Average price charged by the main distributors on 1 January. 
Prices for gasoline and diesel should be pump prices. For heating gasoil and residual 
fuel oil, a standard offtakes or delivery must be defined, as in general the unit price is 
lower for larger deliveries. Standard offtakes should be defined for domestic 
consumers and for industrial consumers. For example, in the countries of the 
European Union, prices are collected for the following: 
• Heating gasoil: deliveries of 2000–5000 litres. 
• Heavy fuel oil: offtakes less than 2000 tonnes per month or less than 24 000 
tonnes per year. 
Coal: 
• Steam coal, for industry and for households. 
• Coking coal, for industry. 
Measurement: In many countries, the main users of coal are electricity generators and 
the steel industry. These users often directly import coal to meet their own needs, in 
which case it is sufficient to collect data on coal import prices.
Electricity, District Heat and Piped Gas: 
• Electricity, for industry and for households. 
• Natural gas, for industry and for households. 
• Heat, for industry and for households. 
Measurement: Average prices charged by main distributors on 1 January. 
For electricity, heat and gas, a similar alternative is to use industry and household 
surveys to collect information on quantities of electricity, heat and gas purchased and 
amounts charged, and to calculate average expenditure per unit purchased. This is 
strictly speaking not a true price, but rather a weighted price, where the weighting 
varies from one year to another. However, it is preferable to the average revenue 
method. 
The average revenue method, commonly used for lack of a better alternative, is based 
on data from utilities on average revenue per unit delivered. However, it is generally 
not possible to distinguish between sales to domestic and industrial customers, and 
data are skewed towards industry as the major consumers. Moreover, revenue data 
often include charges for connecting new customers to the network and for repairs, as 
well as income from sales of appliances.