Mapping product portfolio of energy service companies in the USA

Due to the outbreak of the second oil shocks of 1970s, the developed countries in North America recognized that energy inefficiency had become an urgent problem to be solved. Having the largest energy consumption in the World, U.S realized that in addition to the increasingly serious environmental pollution, energy inefficiency directly threatens countries' energy security. In 1980s, U.S started to employ a market-oriented mechanism to implement, promote and improve energy efficiency. Thus, the energy service companies (ESCO) appeared in the American market. Through a nearly 30-year development process, US energy service company (ESCO) industry is widely seen as a successful model for the private sector delivery of energy-efficiency technologies and service (Goldman et al., 2005). The research of ESCO industry in U.S attracts many researchers' interest. Goldman and Dayton (1996) conducts research to identify market trend of U.S ESCO industry. Vine et al., (1999) evaluates the U.S ESCO industry. Goldman et al., (2005) analyses U.S ESCO industry market trend with empirical analysis of project data. While the current literature on ESCO industry is scarce, it is still extremely informative (Okay, 2008). In this research, the study of U.S ESCO industry will be approached through the perspective of product portfolio. Product portfolio analyses of an ESCO will not only help these companies to achieve their strategic objectives, but also to improve their competitiveness in an increasingly fierce market. In this paper, we show where companies located, whether they operate in multi locations and draw a map of their products, which analyzes their product portfolio. Our sample considered 112 U.S ESCOs. These are companies which are qualified by Department of Energy of U.S. Our main source is based on secondary data from companies' official website and Department of Energy. This paper makes a contribution to academic circles by expanding research of ESCO industry in U.S from perspectives of locations and product portfolio. It also makes a contribution to business practice as it benchmarks product portfolios and helps identifying new products which could assist with new product development for the sector. By focusing on product portfolio management, our findings can be very relevant, especially for ESCOs, energy sector investor, and policy makers in developing countries. The paper can assist the improvement of ESCO industry from the product portfolio management perspective. Further research of product portfolio management, qualitative data collection and analysis are necessary, particularly in developing countries.