Energy Research Consulting

What Energy Research Consulting does

Energy Research Consulting Group, LLC (ERCG) is a privately-held U.S. business intelligence and consulting firm serving participants in competitive retail energy markets. Operating as a single LLC with 11-50 employees and a Brookline, Massachusetts-area phone contact (617 area code), the firm is led by Young Kim, Principal, and reaches clients through direct engagement and content distributed via its website (ercg-us.com). ERCG's customer base consists of retail electricity suppliers operating across the 22 U.S. jurisdictions with restructured markets, retail natural gas retailers, and the Aggregator, Broker, and Consultant (ABC) channel that intermediates between suppliers and end customers. There is no disclosed parent company, outside investor, subsidiary, M&A activity, or partnership, making ERCG an independent, founder-led niche research and advisory firm. The firm provides strategic advisory on entry strategies, investment opportunities, and market and policy dynamics in restructured electricity and natural gas markets, with no signs of product expansion beyond the U.S. domestic footprint.

ERCG's product portfolio is a suite of recurring research publications rather than a unified software platform. Flagship offerings are the Retail Power Rankings — competitive electricity switching statistics, M&A activity, and top retailers by market across the 22 restructured U.S. jurisdictions — and the Retail Gas Rankings, which provide market size estimates by segment and jurisdiction for competitive retail natural gas. The anchor asset is the annual ERCG ABC National Study Results, published every year from 2014 through 2023 and covering ABC technology and back-office service provider capabilities, functions, market coverage, and pricing strategy. Complementary products include the ERCG ABC Technology Whitepaper (a downloadable review of leading ABC technology providers) and the ABC Leadership Interview Series, which has captured insights from dozens of ABC firm leaders across monthly or near-monthly episodes spanning at least 2016 through early 2021. Underlying technology consists of a standard content-management website hosting downloadable PDFs and ranking pages — there is no disclosed API, SDK, mobile app, or software product.

The business model is professional services and content publishing. Revenue is generated through bespoke consulting engagements — quote-based, not publicly priced — and through distribution of recurring research products and whitepapers. The go-to-market is sales-led: the firm markets primarily through its website (top- and mid-funnel content marketing via rankings, study results, and downloadable whitepapers), the ABC Leadership Interview Series, and direct outreach to energy market participants. There is no publicly disclosed pricing, no public customers or case studies, and no third-party distribution partners. With no disclosed awards, patents, partnerships, regulatory actions, funding rounds, acquisitions, or restructuring, ERCG presents as a stable, single-entity research boutique whose growth is internally funded and tied to the depth of its published intelligence franchise rather than to external capital or inorganic activity.

Name

Energy Research Consulting

Legal name

Energy Research Consulting Group, LLC

Website

https://ercg-us.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Energy Research Consulting Group (ERCG) is a private U.S. consulting and business intelligence firm producing annual market research, competitive rankings, and strategic advisory for retail electricity suppliers, natural gas retailers, and Aggregator/Broker/Consultant (ABC) firms across U.S. restructured markets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Brookline

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Business Intelligence and Consulting Services: ERCG provides business intelligence and consulting services to energy market participants on entry strategies, investment opportunities, and market & policy dynamics. Revenue is generated through consulting engagements and the sale of market research reports and whitepapers.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Energy Research Consulting Group, LLC (ERCG) provides business intelligence and consulting services to energy market participants on entry strategies, investment opportunities, and market and policy dynamics. The firm delivers a portfolio of research products including Retail Power Rankings, Retail Gas Rankings, annual ABC National Study Results, the ABC Technology Whitepaper, and the ABC Leadership Interview Series for restructured U.S. electricity and natural gas markets.

Product overview

Energy Research Consulting Group, LLC (ERCG) is a business intelligence and consulting firm that provides strategic energy advisory services to energy market participants. Rather than offering a unified software platform, ERCG delivers a portfolio of research products including Retail Power Rankings, Retail Gas Rankings, annual ABC National Study Results, and the ABC Leadership Interview Series. The firm also publishes the ABC Technology Whitepaper. These offerings collectively help clients understand entry strategies, investment opportunities, and market and policy dynamics in competitive energy markets.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Strategic Energy Advisory Services Custom business intelligence and consulting engagements delivered to energy market participants covering entry strategies, investment opportunities, and market and policy dynamics in competitive retail electricity and natural gas markets.
• Retail Power Rankings Research product providing competitive electricity switching statistics, mergers and acquisition (M&A) activity, and top retailers by market across U.S. jurisdictions with restructured retail electricity markets.
• Retail Gas Rankings Research product providing estimates of competitive retail natural gas market size by segment and jurisdiction and M&A activity.
• ERCG ABC National Study Results Annual national study results covering the ABC (Aggregator, Broker, Consultant) technology and back-office service market, including capabilities, functions, market coverage, and pricing strategy. Published yearly from 2014 through 2023.
• ERCG ABC Technology Whitepaper Whitepaper reviewing leading providers in the ABC technology and back-office service market, covering capabilities, functions, market coverage, and pricing strategy. Available as a downloadable PDF from the company website.
• ABC Leadership Interview Series Ongoing series of interviews with leaders from dozens of ABC firms discussing market insights, business strategies, and industry best practices in the competitive retail energy sector.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• E Source: E Source is a research and advisory firm focused on U.S. retail energy markets, utility customer experience, and the energy transition, directly overlapping ERCG's coverage of retail electricity suppliers, ABCs, and restructured market dynamics.

Broad incumbents

• Guidehouse (formerly Navigant Consulting): Guidehouse operates a sizable energy, sustainability, and infrastructure practice serving utilities and retail energy market participants with research, benchmarking, and strategic advisory services that overlap with ERCG's offering.
• Rystad Energy: Rystad Energy is an independent energy research house covering global power, gas, and renewables markets with comparable research products, methodology-driven market sizing, and subscription offerings aimed at energy market participants.
• Wood Mackenzie: Global energy research and consultancy with extensive U.S. power and gas market coverage, including the former Greentech Media/GTM Research, competing for the same strategic advisory and market intelligence budgets as ERCG at a much larger scale.
• BloombergNEF: BNEF produces widely cited research and data on energy markets, including U.S. power markets, retail energy, and energy transition, with a similar subscription/research model aimed at sophisticated energy market participants.
• ICF International: ICF is a large consulting and energy market research firm with deep U.S. utility and retail energy practice, providing market intelligence and strategic advisory that overlaps with ERCG's service lines.
• S&P Global Commodity Insights: S&P Global's energy intelligence arm (formerly IHS Markit / Platts) provides market data, research, and consulting across power, gas, and renewables; competes with ERCG for retail energy market sizing, M&A intelligence, and policy analysis.

Emerging players

• EnerKnol: EnerKnol is a U.S. energy regulatory intelligence platform tracking federal and state-level energy policy, providing data and analysis that overlaps with ERCG's policy dynamics and market entry advisory.
• ScottMadden: ScottMadden is an energy-focused management consulting firm that publishes periodic energy industry updates and serves many of the same utility and retail energy clients as ERCG, making it a partial competitor for advisory engagements.

Others

• The Brattle Group: The Brattle Group is a specialized economics consulting firm with significant energy and regulatory economics expertise serving many of the same utility and retail energy clients as ERCG on market structure and policy questions.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Energy Research Consulting