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Real public data · A complete worked example
Twelve monthly columns become one plant-output report
A wide annual file now feeds a 252-row fuel/month report and a 401-plant output review. All 6,144 source month cells are preserved, including 157 missing markers and 105 negative values. Six state-fuel increment lines stay separate from the plant ranking.
Independent public-data demonstration · Not paid client work · Source and limits below
512Source lines506 plant lines plus 6 state-fuel increment lines
6,144Monthly recordsEvery source line × 12 months; no dropped cells
401Physical plant IDsExcludes placeholder ID 99999
157Missing monthly cells preservedBlank numeric measure; raw dot retained
MWh means megawatt-hours: a measure of electrical energy. This report keeps electricity used by plants, missing values and state-level adjustments visible.
The practical question
How can an analyst compare published electricity output by month, fuel, and plant without losing missing values, erasing net consumption, or counting state-level adjustments as plants?
The prepared workbook keeps a route back to the original records and includes the checks and open questions. It is a worked example you can inspect, not a claim of client savings or a live operational system.
Monthly overview
Fuel month review
Plant output review
State increment review
Source reconciliation
Code descriptions
What the work involved
From the source files to a usable result.
Read the real multi-row header
Select the complete Illinois subset from the generation-and-fuel sheet, map the 12 net-generation columns and retain the original row and cell references.
Turn months into filterable rows
Move January–December values out of separate columns into one month column: 512 source lines become 6,144 dated records. Keep nuclear units, fuel, equipment type (prime mover), sector, and source reporting-frequency codes.
Add verified code descriptions
Join fuel and prime-mover codes to exact definitions in the source workbook. Preserve AM without guessing its definition.
Protect zero, missing, and negative values
Keep 1,588 genuine zeros, 157 source missing markers, and 105 negative numbers distinct. No missing values or annual differences are filled.
Separate plants from state increments
Build the 401-plant review separately. Six state-fuel increment lines are published state-level adjustments, not physical plants; preserve them in their own view and in fuel/month totals.
Reconcile two published time scales
The monthly-cell sum is 185,012,934.665 MWh, while published annual cells sum to 185,012,934.253 MWh. Both remain visible; the approximately 0.412 MWh difference is not spread across months.
Follow actual records
What changed, and why it matters.
The two columns show the same information before and after. New calculations, group labels and questions appear separately beneath them. “[blank]” marks an empty field; the explanation says why. The full source records and the complete change log are included in the downloads.
Example 1
A real January cell gets a usable month
Before · source information
Plant ID in source
204
Plant name
Clinton Power Station
Original cell
CB184
Output written in that cell
815580
After · prepared information
Plant ID in source
204
Plant name
Clinton Power Station
Original cell
CB184
Output written in that cell
815580
What changed or was added: The source cell stays traceable while the new month column makes cross-plant filtering and grouping straightforward.
Added to make the record useful
Month
2024-01
Output (megawatt-hours)
815,580
Example 2
A dot stays different from zero
Before · source information
Plant ID in source
883
Plant name
Waukegan
Original cell
CB793
Output written in that cell
.
After · prepared information
Plant ID in source
883
Plant name
Waukegan
Original cell
CB793
Output written in that cell
.
What changed or was added: The dot is retained beside a blank numeric measure. Nothing is inferred about why this month is unavailable.
Added to make the record useful
Output (megawatt-hours)
[blank]
What the value means
Missing source marker
Example 3
Negative output is kept as published
Before · source information
Plant ID in source
883
Plant name
Waukegan
Original cell
CB792
Output written in that cell
-207
After · prepared information
Plant ID in source
883
Plant name
Waukegan
Original cell
CB792
Output written in that cell
-207
What changed or was added: EIA explains that net generation can be negative when a facility uses more power than it generates. Replacing this with zero would change the total.
Added to make the record useful
Output (megawatt-hours)
-207
What the value means
Negative net generation
Example 4
A state increment does not become a 402nd plant
Before · source information
Plant ID in source
99999
Plant name
State-Fuel Level Increment
Original row
17,967
Original fuel code
WND
Output written in that cell
57869.873
After · prepared information
Plant ID in source
99999
Plant name
State-Fuel Level Increment
Original row
17,967
Original fuel code
WND
Output written in that cell
57869.873
What changed or was added: The original label and placeholder ID are kept; the line is counted in the source total, not presented as a physical plant.
Added to make the record useful
Kind of source record
State-fuel increment
Included as a physical plant
No
Example 5
Codes become understandable without overwriting them
Before · source information
Plant ID in source
876
Plant name
Kincaid Generation LLC
Original fuel code
NG
Original equipment code
ST
After · prepared information
Plant ID in source
876
Plant name
Kincaid Generation LLC
Original fuel code
NG
Original equipment code
ST
What changed or was added: The descriptions come from the same workbook’s official file-layout sheet. Original codes remain available for joins.
Added to make the record useful
Fuel name
Natural Gas
Equipment description
Steam Turbine. Including Nuclear, Geothermal, and Solar Steam (does not include Combined Cycle).
Example 6
An annual mismatch becomes visible, not a made-up adjustment
Before · source information
Original row
7,267
Plant name
Prairie State Generating Station
Fuel code
BIT
Source annual mwh
11,418,014
After · prepared information
Original row
7,267
Plant name
Prairie State Generating Station
Fuel code
BIT
Source annual mwh
11,418,014
What changed or was added: The monthly cells and the annual source value are both preserved. Their difference is 0.31 MWh when rounded for this example; full stored precision remains in the evidence files.
Added to make the record useful
Sum of available months mwh
11,418,014.31
Monthly minus annual mwh (rounded)
0.31
Annual comparison
Review source difference
Checks you can inspect
Every selected record is accounted for.
Check
Result
Original records
512
Prepared records
6,144
Records removed
0
Original lines with all 12 month cells accounted for
512
Physical plant IDs
401
Plant-level source lines
506
State-level adjustment lines, kept separately
6
Original monthly cells
6,144
Monthly cells containing numbers
5,987
Monthly cells with missing values
157
Monthly cells reporting zero
1,588
Monthly cells reporting a negative value
105
Original monthly-cell total (MWh)
185,012,934.665 MWh (rounded)
Prepared monthly total (MWh)
185,012,934.665 MWh (rounded)
Fuel/month report total (MWh)
185,012,934.665 MWh (rounded)
Published annual-cell total (MWh)
185,012,934.253 MWh (rounded)
Monthly total minus annual total (MWh)
0.412 MWh (rounded)
Lines with any stored-precision annual difference
111
Threshold used to flag annual differences (MWh)
0.000001
Lines above that review threshold
15
Largest line-level annual difference (MWh)
0.310 MWh (rounded)
Source reporting-frequency codes
M: 154
AM: 235
A: 117
[blank]: 6
Logged transformations
8,192
All 12 prepared monthly totals match the source
Yes
Plant and state-level totals add up correctly
Yes
Downloaded CSV total matches the source
Yes
These checks verify the preparation and grouping rules. They do not certify the underlying source, prove a business outcome or settle the questions listed for review.
Open the complete deliverables
Originals, prepared work and supporting checks.
Start with the prepared workbook. Compare it with the original workbook, or use the CSV files to inspect every row in another spreadsheet app.
The files contain public source data and independently prepared analysis. Native Microsoft Excel testing has not been performed.
Use the result in context
What this example does and does not establish.
Illinois 2024 final EIA-923 generation-and-fuel records only. This is a historical reporting example, not a live feed or a claim about every small generator in Illinois.
Original CSV/XLSX is a values-preserving Illinois extract. The untouched national source workbook and downloaded ZIP are retained separately. Header line breaks are flattened only in the extract; source_header_map.json preserves the exact headers.
Net generation means electricity produced minus electricity used by the plant, measured in megawatt-hours (MWh). These amounts are not capacity, sales, operating efficiency, or profitability. Physical fuel quantities use incompatible units and are not added together.
Source dots remain missing, not zero. Reports sum available numeric cells and show the number missing; coverage is not invented. Negative net generation may represent net consumption.
The source combines reporting frequencies A, M, and AM. EIA uses estimation in its electricity statistics, so published monthly cells are not asserted to be independently metered monthly observations. A and M definitions are in the workbook; AM remains an unexplained source code here.
The six state-fuel increment lines use placeholder Plant Id 99999 and are retained separately. They contribute to source-cell totals but are excluded from the 401-plant count and plant ranking.
Monthly sums and published annual cells differ by about 0.412 MWh across this subset. Both are retained. A 0.000001 MWh comparison tolerance separates tiny storage-precision effects from reviewable differences; it does not change any value.
Structural preparation and traceability are the improvement shown. No source defect, client savings, paid client engagement, or EIA endorsement is claimed.
Source & reuse
Public evidence, clearly credited.
U.S. Energy Information Administration: Form EIA-923, 2024 final data. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-923, 2024 final data; preserved workbook modified January 12, 2026. Illinois subset and independent transformation by Cleargrain. No EIA endorsement is implied.
Prepared for this demonstration from the source downloaded 2026-10-08. Source details, transformations and limitations are included in the files.
Have work like this?
Larger files and more involved reports are welcome. The $125 spreadsheet starter is one defined offer; other work is quoted by size and complexity after review.
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