🔔 EIA-861 Utility Service Territory (Counties)

Structured utility service-territory records from the U.S. EIA Form EIA-861 Annual Electric Power Industry Report, read directly from the official current-year ZIP on www.eia.gov (the Service_Territory_<year>.xlsx workbook). One record per (utility, state, county) line, carried source-native and verbatim.

Output is one utility_county_record row per result; billing is pay-per-event, the value event being one utility service-territory county record (a $0.02 start fee per run, then $0.02 per utility service-territory county record). Source: www.eia.gov.

No login, no API key and no CAPTCHA solving are involved: the source is read logged-out with an identified contact User-Agent.

📊 Sample Output

Real rows from run RGgoak7aB5pY9Y1h2 on build 0.1.5 (2026-09-19), the same input as the Quick start below — every value is as the source published it (emails masked, long text shortened):

data_year	utility_name	county	sheet	release_file	release_date
2024	City of Abbeville - (SC)	Abbeville	Counties_States	f8612024.zip	f8612024

The run finished with the status message: NORMAL: 1 unique rows (0 duplicates collapsed) from f8612024. billable=1

✅ What you get

Each row is flat JSON with these fields (from the dataset schema and the sample run; a field the source does not publish for a given row is null):

• data_year (string/null) — e.g. 2024
• utility_number (string/null) — e.g. 34
• utility_name (string/null) — e.g. City of Abbeville - (SC)
• short_form (string/null) — e.g. Y
• state (string/null) — e.g. SC
• county (string/null) — e.g. Abbeville
• record_type (string/null) — e.g. utility_county_record
• sheet (string/null) — e.g. Counties_States
• is_territory (string/null) — e.g. N
• release_year (string/null) — e.g. 2024
• release_file (string/null) — e.g. f8612024.zip
• release_note (string/null) — e.g. EIA-861 is an ANNUAL dataset; each year's file replaces (does not append to) the
• record_key (string/null) — e.g. eia861-svcterr:2024:34:SC:ABBEVILLE:c7a74808f37a
• source_url (string/null) — e.g. https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia861/zip/f8612024.zip
• source (string/null) — e.g. eia861-utility-service-territory
• release_date (string/null) — e.g. f8612024
• observed_at (string/null) — e.g. 2026-09-19T04:46:16Z
• release_checksum (string/null) — e.g. 2024
• license (string/null) — e.g. U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Form EIA-861 Annual Electric Power
• attribution (string/null) — e.g. U.S. Energy Information Administration — Form EIA-861 (https://www.eia.gov/elect
• terminal (string/null) — null in every sample row
• scope (string/null) — null in every sample row
• note (string/null) — null in every sample row
• reported_total (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• raw_seen (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• duplicates (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• unique_found (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• delivered (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row

✅ What you get

• data_year (string/null) — e.g. 2024
• utility_number (string/null) — e.g. 34
• utility_name (string/null) — e.g. City of Abbeville - (SC)
• short_form (string/null) — e.g. Y
• state (string/null) — e.g. SC
• county (string/null) — e.g. Abbeville
• record_type (string/null) — e.g. utility_county_record
• sheet (string/null) — e.g. Counties_States
• is_territory (string/null) — e.g. N
• release_year (string/null) — e.g. 2024
• release_file (string/null) — e.g. f8612024.zip
• release_note (string/null) — e.g. EIA-861 is an ANNUAL dataset; each year's file replaces (does not append to) the
• record_key (string/null) — e.g. eia861-svcterr:2024:34:SC:ABBEVILLE:c7a74808f37a
• source_url (string/null) — e.g. https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia861/zip/f8612024.zip
• source (string/null) — e.g. eia861-utility-service-territory
• release_date (string/null) — e.g. f8612024
• observed_at (string/null) — e.g. 2026-09-19T04:16:22Z
• release_checksum (string/null) — e.g. 2024
• license (string/null) — e.g. U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Form EIA-861 Annual Electric Power
• attribution (string/null) — e.g. U.S. Energy Information Administration — Form EIA-861 (https://www.eia.gov/elect
• terminal (string/null) — null in every sample row
• scope (string/null) — null in every sample row
• note (string/null) — null in every sample row
• reported_total (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• raw_seen (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• duplicates (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• unique_found (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• delivered (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row

What you get

One utility_county_record per row of the Counties_States and Counties_Territories sheets: data_year, utility_number, utility_name, short_form, state, county, plus sheet / is_territory, the release metadata and source_url. A column canary fails loud on header drift.

⚙️ Sample inputs

1. Quick start — the Store example (this is what the sample above came from)

{
  "utilityNumbers": [
    "34"
  ],
  "maxRecords": 50
}

The sample run charged exactly: 1 × $0.02 apify-actor-start + 1 × $0.02 utility_county_record = $0.04 on the Free tier — every delivered row was billed.

2. A smaller, narrowed run

{
  "utilityNumbers": [
    "34"
  ],
  "maxRecords": 5
}

Caps the run at 5 rows — about $0.12 on the Free tier ($0.02 start + 5 × $0.02).

3. A full-size run

{
  "utilityNumbers": [
    "34"
  ],
  "maxRecords": 2500
}

Up to 2500 rows (the schema default for maxRecords) — about $50.02 on the Free tier ($0.02 start + 2500 × $0.02) if the source has that many.

4. A filtered run

{
  "utilityNumbers": [
    "34"
  ],
  "maxRecords": 50,
  "fieldMatch": {
    "utility_name": "City of Abbeville - (SC)"
  }
}

Keeps only rows whose utility_name contains City of Abbeville - (SC) (a value from the sample run above), matched case-insensitively after the source is read and before the maxRecords cap, so the cap counts matches and only delivered matches are billed. searchText does the same across every column. Zero matches end the run as EMPTY_SELECTION with no row charged — if the source has moved on since that sample run, pick a value you see in your own first run. The source is still read in full — this narrows what you receive and pay for, not what the source serves.

🧾 JSON sample record

One real record from run RGgoak7aB5pY9Y1h2, exactly as it lands in the dataset (emails masked, long text shortened):

{
  "data_year": "2024",
  "utility_number": "34",
  "utility_name": "City of Abbeville - (SC)",
  "short_form": "Y",
  "state": "SC",
  "county": "Abbeville",
  "record_type": "utility_county_record",
  "sheet": "Counties_States",
  "is_territory": "N",
  "release_year": "2024",
  "release_file": "f8612024.zip",
  "release_note": "EIA-861 is an ANNUAL dataset; each year's file replaces (does not append to) the prior year",
  "record_key": "eia861-svcterr:2024:34:SC:ABBEVILLE:c7a74808f37a",
  "source_url": "https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia861/zip/f8612024.zip",
  "source": "eia861-utility-service-territory",
  "release_date": "f8612024",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-19T04:46:16Z",
  "release_checksum": "2024",
  "license": "U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Form EIA-861 Annual Electric Power Industry Report, Service Territory — U.S. Government work, public domain. Annual dataset; each year replaces the prior year. Acknowledgement: data from the U.S",
  "attribution": "U.S. Energy Information Administration — Form EIA-861 (https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia861/)"
}

🔧 How it works

Source. The actor reads www.eia.gov — endpoints: https://www.eia.gov, https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia861/, https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia861/zip/f861. Public pages and feeds only; nothing behind a login.

Transport. Plain HTTPS from the Apify platform, no proxy. robots.txt is read first and a disallowed path is never fetched. Every request carries an identified contact User-Agent. Pacing: CRAWL_DELAY=0.0.

Terminal states. A run ends NORMAL, CAPPED (your cap was reached), PARTIAL (something was withheld and the message says what), GENUINE_EMPTY (the source was read and truly had nothing in scope) or BLOCKED (the source refused or changed shape — the run FAILS loud and bills nothing). A zero-row run is never reported as a silent success.

Charging. Each utility service-territory county record is charged at the moment it is pushed (utility_county_record); a row that fails to charge is not delivered, so the dataset count always equals the charged count.

🔧 How it works

Composite key — one utility, many counties

A utility serves many counties and a county is served by many utilities, so the record key is composite: data year + utility number + state + county. Only the full tuple is unique.

Annual replacement

EIA-861 is an annual dataset: each year's file replaces (does not append to) the prior year. Every record carries the release vintage (release_year, release_file) and a release_note stating the annual- replacement rule, so a buyer always knows which year they hold. Pin a year with the year input; the default is the latest annual file.

Filters

Supply at least one of utilityNumbers, states, or counties — the file is never emitted in full. maxRecords caps delivery (one charge per delivered record, hard cap 5000).

Robots & door

Only the current annual f861<year>.zip is read — www.eia.gov/robots.txt disallows /archive/, which is never fetched. No third-party content or logos; no implied endorsement.

Source & licence

U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861 (Service Territory) — U.S. Government work, public domain. Acknowledgement: data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia861/).

What is not done. No login, no cookie or CAPTCHA bypass, no private or personal-account data, no browser automation.

💰 Pricing example

Event	Free	Bronze	Silver	Gold
Actor Start (apify-actor-start)	$0.02	$0.02	$0.02	$0.02
Utility service-territory county record (utility_county_record)	$0.02	$0.018	$0.016	$0.0134

Worked at the live Free-tier price:

• 1 utility service-territory county records: $0.02 start + 1 × $0.02 = $0.04
• 25 utility service-territory county records: $0.02 start + 25 × $0.02 = $0.52
• 2500 utility service-territory county records: $0.02 start + 2500 × $0.02 = $50.02

A run that delivers zero rows charges the $0.02 start fee only. A BLOCKED run (source refused) fails loud and charges no value event. The start fee is charged once per GB of run memory; the default run memory is 4096 MB.

Yield on the sample run: NORMAL: 1 unique rows (0 duplicates collapsed) from f8612024. billable=1. maxRecords is a hard ceiling on what is delivered and billed, never a target.

⚖️ Legal & ToS

This actor reads public, logged-out pages and feeds published by www.eia.gov. It collects only what the source publishes to any visitor, keeps to the source's robots rules (checked on every run), identifies itself with a contact User-Agent, and does not access accounts, private data or anything behind authentication. Use the output in line with the source's terms and your local law; the intended use is B2B research and monitoring.

❓ FAQ

Q: Do I need an API key or a login?
A: No. The source (www.eia.gov) is read logged-out; the input schema has no key field and the actor carries no secrets.

Q: Why did my run return 0 rows?
A: Read the run's status message. GENUINE_EMPTY means the source was read and had nothing in scope for your input; BLOCKED means the source refused and the run failed without billing a value event — retry later or narrow the input. A zero-row run bills the start fee only.

Q: How many rows can one run return?
A: Up to maxRecords (default 2500). Raise the cap for a bigger run; you pay per delivered row.

Q: How fresh is the data?
A: Every run reads the source live at run time; nothing is cached between runs. Put it on a schedule for a continuous feed.

Q: What formats can I export?
A: The dataset downloads as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML or RSS from the run's Dataset tab or the Apify API, and any run can push to a webhook or integration.

Q: How is this different from the other NexGen Watch actors actors?
A: Same output shape and billing model; this one covers www.eia.gov. The siblings under Related Actors cover the other sources or slices — run several on one schedule for a combined feed.

Q: Are there rate limits?
A: The actor paces itself against the source (CRAWL_DELAY=0.0) and honours its robots rules; there is no per-buyer limit beyond your Apify plan's concurrency.

🆘 Troubleshooting

• Run FAILED with BLOCKED → the source refused the request or changed its page shape → nothing was billed beyond the start fee; retry after a while, and if it persists open an Issue with the run id.
• Status says CAPPED → your cap (maxRecords) was reached → raise it for a bigger run.
• Input validation error on start → a field is outside the schema's allowed values → start from the Quick start block and change one field at a time.
• Run TIMED-OUT → a very wide request on a slow day → raise the run timeout in Run options or narrow the input; what was delivered before the timeout is still in the dataset.

🔗 Related Actors

• EIA-861 Advanced Metering (AMR / AMI / Standard) — Structured advanced-meter technology adoption records from the U.S. EIA Form EIA-861 Annual Electric Power Industry Report, read directly from the of…
• EIA-861 Annual Sales to Ultimate Customers (final) — Structured annual final retail electricity sales from the U.S. Energy Information Administration Form EIA-861, read directly from the official curren…
• EIA-861 Filing Frame (schedule presence per utility) — Structured filing-frame records from the U.S. EIA Form EIA-861 Annual Electric Power Industry Report, read directly from the official current-year ZI…
• EIA-861M Net Metering & Distributed Generation Matrix — Structured net-metering and distributed-generation records from the U.S. EIA Form EIA-861M, read directly from the official current-year net_metering…
• EIA-861M Utility Sales & Revenue to Ultimate Customers — Structured monthly sales-and-revenue-to-ultimate-customers records from the U.S. EIA Form EIA-861M, read directly from the official current-year sale…
• EIA-923 Air Emissions Control Operations (Annual Release) — Structured air-emissions-control operating records from the U.S. EIA Form EIA-923 Schedule 8C — Air Emissions Control Information sheet, read directl…
• 🏢 About NexGenData — NexGen Watch is NexGenData's fleet of more than 300 public data actors built on official sources, pay-per-result. Browse the catalog at apify.com/nexgenwatch.

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