By Ora Rogovin, Senior Energy Analyst
With the July 2025 issue of the CES Insider, Competitive Energy Services is excited to introduce a refreshed design of one of our flagship offerings, the weekly Market Summary. Open to all, the CES Market Summary is circulated to subscribers at the start of each work week and provides a clear, consistent, concise overview of key market trends and occurrences. With the debut of the Market Summary’s new look, we wanted to take the opportunity to share the story behind the report.
Origins and Purpose
CES has published the weekly Market Summary for just under two decades, adjusting and expanding its content over time to match the structure of the energy market and the needs of our readership base. Originally, the Market Summary was a communication targeted at CES clients interested in regular commodity market updates. Growing readership led CES to add the weekly Summary to our website as an open offering for anyone interested in the energy market.
The Market Summary serves to educate energy users on the underlying dynamics that shape pricing, highlighting the advantages of engaging more actively in energy management. Many subscribed clients reference information from the Market Summary in their conversations with their Energy Service Advisors, valuing the added market awareness, the comprehensive discussion that follows, allowing for more collaborative participation in their procurement strategy.
The Foundation for What We Do
The Market Summary represents a high-level summary of CES’ body of ongoing market research and provides a glimpse into our approach to market-informed decision-making. We offer more in-depth coverage of this material as part of our procurement and consulting services, and the price points reviewed in the Market Summary are among the data our team examines when building tailored strategies for our clients.
“The CES Market Summary is an effective way for us to communicate recent energy market trends and information. It provides a quick reference guide to clients on weekly market changes. We try to strike a balance of providing enough detail to be useful but not so much to be overwhelming. We will never use it as a replacement for in-person consultation with the team at CES, however. In our experience there is no substitute for a nuanced discussion with an experienced energy services advisor,” said, Andrew Price, President & CEO
Detailed market updates on industry news that we provide to our clients are customized to inform specific procurement or project objectives, and monthly and quarterly meetings are an opportunity to review and respond to the current energy landscape. CES’ energy experts stay apprised of the complex nature of the energy market, and the Market Summary provides a snapshot into those insights.
The Team Behind the Scenes
Each week, the CES Analytics and Marketing/Communications teams collaborate to produce the CES Market Summary so that it lands in subscriber inboxes consistently and appears on our website each Monday.
The Market Summary provides a glimpse into the extensive and diverse expertise of our Analytics Team, which brings together professionals from a broad range of fields. Analysts periodically rotate coverage of each energy market, presenting readers with a wide array of approaches. Writers reporting on a week’s price trend may provide a macroeconomics angle, compare similar historical trends, or focus on proposed legislation impacting the commodity. The interdisciplinary experience of our analysts allows us to take a broad look at the energy landscape each week and forms one of the core strengths of our Analytics team.
Throughout any given week, a group of CES Analysts tracks key price points and industry news in core New England commodity markets, including electricity, natural gas, liquid fuels, and renewables. Each Friday, CES comes together as a company on a weekly virtual call to review these trends and developments -- an opportunity for deep dialogue and cross-departmental collaboration to assess potential impacts on our customers. This shared dialogue informs the high-level content shared in the Market Summary and more in-depth information shared during client meetings. On the following Monday, CES Analysts compile a summary of the previous week’s price trends and major influencing factors for each commodity that become the basis for the Market Summary.
Once the previous week’s data and trends are compiled for the current week’s Market Summary, it’s sent to CES Marketing/Communications, where graphic elements are added to polish off the report. From there, the Market Summary is distributed to our subscriber base, which consists of CES clients, friends, and anyone who signs up on the CES website to receive our communications.
Evolution of the Design
Over the years, the Market Summary has evolved and changed along with the energy landscape. Below, Figure 1 shows a CES Market Summary report from this week a decade ago. Many core elements are still a part of the summary today, including CES Market Action Scores indicating favorable market conditions, 12-month forward strips for natural gas and crude oil, and a weekly weather outlook. Other elements have changed. Between 2015 and 2021, some price strips were replaced, visuals reformatted, and fundamentals data added.
Figure 1 – CES Market Summary – Circa 2015
In early 2021, a redesign of the report (see Figure 2) was developed and launched, looking much more like the version you see and receive today.
Figure 2 – CES Market Summary – 2021
The 2021 redesign included a separate page for each commodity centered around key market-specific insights, and added a weekly spotlight story to the first page of the report, covering recent industry, legislative, or regulatory developments. Additional electricity and propane price tracking presented a fuller overview of the commodities our client base utilizes.
"Over the years, we have worked to improve the readability of our weekly Market Summary by refining graphics, color schemes, and other visual indicators to more clearly convey the story of pricing, news, and trends in the energy market. We also added content, such as detailed regional electricity market information, and supplemental graphics that are swapped into the report when relevant. Over time, these updates have enhanced the report's applicability and accessibility for a wider audience," said Matthew Gamache, COO
The CES Market Summary – Today
The Market Summary’s new look (see Figure 3) is designed to further these core goals, guiding readers smoothly and seamlessly through a clear and concise account of key market developments.
Figure 3 – CES Market Summary – 2025
An updated palette frames key information on each page, with commodity-specific coloring orienting the reader, and graph and chart styles adjusted using visualization software.
The refreshed design for the Market Summary comes on the heels of a reshaping of many of CES’ central reports around improved readability, intuitive and streamlined layout, and unity between products to enhance storytelling and client communication. The CES Market Summary now reflects the connection between the deeper insights we share each week with clients and the broader models driving our strategy and decision-making.
Looking Forward
CES continues to adapt our products and services alongside the shifting terrain of the energy world. We are constantly asking how we can keep providing relevant, useful content, empowering our clients to partner with us in managing their energy.
“Looking ahead, we are thinking of ways to keep the CES Market Summary relevant and responsive to client needs in a rapidly changing marketplace. New features could include daily or even near-real-time updates to the market information available on our website. We always appreciate feedback from our clients on services they find valuable or would like to see," said Andrew Price, President & CEO.
If you have any questions about your energy goals and needs, please reach out to a member of CES’ Energy Services Advisory Team and be added to the Market Summary weekly for the latest information on market trends on our website at https://www.competitive-energy.com/market-summary.
Photo by Koto Feja