MCP-EIA: Model Context Protocol server for U.S. EIA electricity data

MCP-EIA exposes curated tools over the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) Electricity datasets, adding robust validation and domain analysis on top of the raw API. It is built with @missionsquad/fastmcp, validates responses with Zod, and manages authenticated API clients per user via a ResourceManager. Transport is stdio.

• Strong response validation with Zod schemas
• Multi-tenant authentication via extraArgs.apiKey with environment fallback
• Cached API clients with timed cleanup and safe shutdown hooks
• OpenAPI-derived request typing for EIA endpoints
• Practical analytic tools for state profiles, generation mix, capacity/utilization, retail price comparison, and energy storage siting

Requirements

• Node.js ≥ 20
• An EIA API key

Installation and Run

1. Install dependencies:

npm install
# or
yarn install

2. Configure environment (see Configuration):

• Set EIA_API_KEY or provide a per-request key via extraArgs.apiKey.

3. Build and start:

npm run build
npm start
# or
yarn build
yarn start

The server listens for MCP requests on stdio. The published bin name is mcp-eia (see package.json), enabling execution as a CLI if installed/published.

Configuration

Set via environment variables (loaded from .env if present):

| Variable | Description | Default | |----------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------| | EIA_API_KEY | Fallback API key if not provided per request via extraArgs.apiKey | (none) | | EIA_API_TIMEOUT | Axios request timeout in ms | 30000 | | LOG_LEVEL | Logging level: error | warn | info | debug | info | | RESOURCE_CLEANUP_INTERVAL | Milliseconds between cached resource cleanup sweeps | 1800000 | | MAX_RETRIES | Generic retry ceiling (if used by callers) | 3 | | RETRY_BASE_DELAY | Base backoff in ms (if used by callers) | 1000 |

Example .env:

EIA_API_KEY=your_eia_api_key_here
LOG_LEVEL=info
EIA_API_TIMEOUT=30000
RESOURCE_CLEANUP_INTERVAL=1800000
MAX_RETRIES=3
RETRY_BASE_DELAY=1000

Authentication

• Preferred (multi-tenant): Provide context.extraArgs.apiKey on each MCP tool call. This parameter is intentionally not part of tool schemas and is therefore not exposed in list_tools.
• Fallback: If extraArgs.apiKey is not provided, the server uses process.env.EIA_API_KEY.
• If neither is present, tools throw a UserError:
  • “Authentication failed: No EIA API key provided in the request context (extraArgs.apiKey) and no fallback EIA_API_KEY found in environment variables.”

Available Tools

All tools return stringified JSON. Provide two-letter US state codes (e.g., TX, CA). Supply the API key via extraArgs.apiKey or EIA_API_KEY.

1) findHighPotentialEnergyStorageAreas

Analyzes multiple states to identify high-potential regions for energy storage deployment using capacity mix, demand patterns, renewable integration indicators, grid stability proxies, and price signals.

• Parameters (JSON):

{
  "regions": ["TX", "CA", "FL"],
  "includeHourlyAnalysis": false
}

• Notes:
  • regions: array of 2-letter states (min 1).
  • includeHourlyAnalysis: when true, adds hourly RTO demand (where mappable) for finer stability metrics (TX, CA, NY, IL, PA, MA, OK).
• Output (stringified JSON):
  • { summary, detailedResults: EnergyStorageOpportunityMetrics[], failedRegions }
  • summary.topOpportunities ranks by composite “storageOpportunityScore.overall”.
• EIA datasets used:
  • /v2/electricity/operating-generator-capacity/data
  • /v2/electricity/electric-power-operational-data/data
  • /v2/electricity/retail-sales/data
  • /v2/electricity/rto/region-data/data (if hourly analysis enabled)

Example:

{
  "regions": ["TX", "CA", "FL"],
  "includeHourlyAnalysis": true
}

2) getStateElectricityProfileSummary

Returns a concise 5‑year state electricity profile with YoY deltas and trend for key metrics.

• Parameters:

{ "region": "TX" }

• Output:
  • { region, analysisDate, years: string[], metrics: { "net-generation", "total-retail-sales", "average-retail-price" } }
• EIA dataset:
  • /v2/electricity/state-electricity-profiles/summary/data

3) getGenerationMixByState

Summarizes latest-period net generation by fuel type with shares (%) and identifies the dominant fuel.

• Parameters:

{ "region": "CA" }

• Output:
  • { region, period, totalNetGenerationGWh, byFuel: { [fuel]: { netGenerationGWh, sharePct, reportingUnits, description? } }, dominantFuel }
• EIA dataset:
  • /v2/electricity/electric-power-operational-data/data

4) getCapacityAndUtilizationByState

Aggregates summer/winter capacity and estimates recent capacity utilization using generation data.

• Parameters:

{ "region": "NY" }

• Output:
  • { region, latestPeriod, totalSummerCapacityMW, totalWinterCapacityMW, utilization: { ratio, totalGenerationGWh, totalConsumptionGWh } }
• EIA datasets:
  • /v2/electricity/operating-generator-capacity/data
  • /v2/electricity/electric-power-operational-data/data

5) compareRetailElectricityPrices

Compares the most recent N monthly average retail electricity prices (sector=ALL) across states, returning average price, volatility index (CoV), and a simple trend.

• Parameters:

{
  "regions": ["TX", "CA"],
  "months": 12
}

• Constraints:
  • regions: min length 2
  • months: integer 3–12 (default 12)
• Output:
  • { analysisDate, monthsAnalyzed, rankings[], top5[], failedRegions[], notes }
• EIA dataset:
  • /v2/electricity/retail-sales/data with sectorid=ALL

6) discoverElectricityRouteMetadata

Discovers route metadata (frequencies, facets, data columns, date range) or enumerates facet options for the selected route.

• Parameters:

{ "route": "retail-sales" }

or

{ "route": "retail-sales", "facetId": "sectorid" }

• route enum:
  • retail-sales
  • electric-power-operational-data
  • operating-generator-capacity
  • state-electricity-profiles/summary
  • rto/region-data
• Output:
  • Without facetId: { route, response: { facets, data, startPeriod, endPeriod, ... } }
  • With facetId: { route, facetId, response: { values: [{ code, name }, ...] } }
• Endpoints:
  • Metadata: GET /v2/electricity/{route}
  • Facet options: GET /v2/electricity/{route}/facet/{facetId}

Planned/disabled

• getRTODemandSnapshot exists in code but is commented out. Intended to compute recent RTO demand metrics over a selected window. Enumerate valid respondents via:
  • discoverElectricityRouteMetadata with route="rto/region-data", facetId="respondent" (and facetId="type" for series types).

Data Sources (EIA)

• /v2/electricity/operating-generator-capacity/data
• /v2/electricity/electric-power-operational-data/data
• /v2/electricity/retail-sales/data
• /v2/electricity/state-electricity-profiles/summary/data
• /v2/electricity/rto/region-data/data
• Metadata/facets via:
  • /v2/electricity/{route}
  • /v2/electricity/{route}/facet/{facetId}

Operational Details

• Transport: stdio (server.start({ transportType: "stdio" }))
• Client management: ResourceManager caches EiaApiClient per API key and performs periodic cleanup (interval configurable). All resources are destroyed on SIGINT, SIGTERM, uncaughtException, and unhandledRejection.
• Logging: request URLs, warnings for per-region failures, and full error messages. Level controlled by LOG_LEVEL.

Using with an MCP Client

• Provide extraArgs.apiKey on each request for per-user authentication, or set EIA_API_KEY in the server environment for a shared key.
• Send tool parameters exactly as specified above. Responses are stringified JSON.

Development

• Generate OpenAPI types from the included swagger file:

npm run gen:api-types

• Build, watch, start:

npm run build
npm run dev
npm start

• Inspect FastMCP declarations:

npm run inspect

OpenAPI types are generated from eia-swagger.yaml into src/types/eia-api.d.ts.

License

MIT