U.S. Energy Information Administration Python API Wrapper

Python 3 wrapper for the U.S. Energy Information Administration API.

Quick start

pip install eiapy

Get the last 5 measurements of the electricity flow between California and Mexico.

from eiapy import Series

# Call the Series.
cal_to_mex = Series("EBA.CISO-CFE.ID.H")

# Grab the Last 5 Data Points.
cal_to_mex.last(5)

{
  "request": {
    "command": "series",
    "series_id": "EBA.CISO-CFE.ID.H"
  },
  "series": [
    {
      "data": [
        ["20180401T07Z", -11],
        ["20180401T06Z", -16],
        ["20180401T05Z", -11],
        ["20180401T04Z", -7],
        ["20180401T03Z", -5]
      ],
      "description": "Timestamps follow the ISO8601 standard (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8601). Hourly representations are provided in Universal Time.",
      "end": "20180401T07Z",
      "f": "H",
      "name": "Actual Net Interchange for California Independent System Operator (CISO) to Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE), Hourly",
      "series_id": "EBA.CISO-CFE.ID.H",
      "start": "20150701T00Z",
      "units": "megawatthours",
      "updated": "2018-04-02T08:43:16-0400"
    }
  ]
}

Further examples can be found in this gist.

To find more details about the API go to the EIA"s Open Data page. To find interesting data (and identifiers) browse the data sets.

For specific information about the real-time grid display please see this guide.

Go here to see the API terms of service and here for an explanation of copyright and reuse of their data.

Setting up your API key

An API key is needed to access the EIA"s data, you can get one here. eiapy needs this key to be manually set in the operating system environmental variables.

Mac & Linux
Open a terminal and enter the following;

export EIA_KEY=type_your_api_key_here

To set it permanently follow the instructions on this stackexchange question.

Windows
Open a Command Prompt and enter the following;

setx EIA_KEY "type_your_api_key_within_the_quotes"

Notes on API behaviour

• When providing invalid time limits for a series data request an empty data list is returned.
• For data requests num & start cannot be used together but num & end can.
• When an invalid series id is passed this is the response.

{
  "request": {
    "series_id": "eba.ciso-cfe.id.",
    "command": "series",
    "num": "5"
  },
  "data": {
    "error": "invalid series_id. For key registration, documentation, and examples see https://www.eia.gov/developer/"
  }
}

• The API expects timestamps in ISO 8601 format (YYYYMMDDTHHZ) with Z meaning UTC, bad timestamps will not raise errors.

Changelog

0.1.5:

• Added Python 3.8 to supported versions.
• Updated readme with advice about bad timestamps.
• Disabled broken Relation class.
• Made handling of no api key more human friendly.

0.1.4:

• Fixed broken Search repr.
• Added Python 3.7 to supported versions.
• Mention real-time grid in readme.

0.1.3:

• Simplify construction and use of the Search class.
• Explain how to set up the API key.
• Added gist of examples to readme.

0.1.2:

• Rename several methods for extra clarity.
• data -> get_data
• get -> get_updates

0.1.1:

• Started using requests session functionality to improve performance.
• Fixed a mistake in the MultiSeries class that stopped it working entirely.
• Added a version attribute to the package.
• Overhaul of readme.