Data sources and licenses
Every MeterWhale export ships with LICENSES.txt. It names each source below, carries ERCOT's disclaimer, and includes the full text of the two open-data licenses that apply.
What LICENSES.txt contains
- An attribution line for each source in the export: ERCOT, Overture Maps, the Texas Comptroller and the US Census Bureau geocoder;
- ERCOT's disclaimer:
ERCOT makes no warranty as to its accuracy. This product is independent and not affiliated with ERCOT.
- A note that usage and commission figures are class averages and our estimates, not the meter's own usage; and
- The full text of the Community Data License Agreement, Permissive 2.0 and the Apache License 2.0.
If you pass a list on, keep LICENSES.txt with it. Both open-data licenses require their text to go with the data.
ERCOT TDSP ESI ID Extract
ERCOT's public meter file is where every Prospect starts, and it is the only source behind our Texas meter counts.
- What it contributes
- The meter: its ESI ID, service address and county, utility, size class (Medium or Large), and the smart meter, switch hold and pending order fields.
- Refreshed
- Monthly, when ERCOT posts new full files for each utility.
- License
- Public data from ercot.com. ERCOT makes no warranty as to its accuracy.
- Attribution
- Meter data: ERCOT TDSP ESI ID Extract, public data from ercot.com. This product is independent and not affiliated with ERCOT.
The yearly usage averages for each size class come from ERCOT's POLR counts and energy report for 2026, covering active meters as of March 31, 2026.
Overture Maps places
Overture's places data is how we find the business at a meter's address.
- What it contributes
- The business's name, phone, website and category, and its location, which we use to match it to the meter and to count the businesses nearby, a sign of a multi-tenant building.
- Release
- 2026-10-21.0, as named in LICENSES.txt.
- License
- Rows sourced from Foursquare are under the Apache License 2.0. The other rows are under the Community Data License Agreement, Permissive 2.0, or CC0.
- Attribution
- Business names and phones: Overture Maps Foundation places, release 2026-10-21.0 (overturemaps.org).
- Source
- overturemaps.org, places guide
In the CSV, the name_source column gives the Overture source and license of each row.
Texas Comptroller Active Sales Tax Permit Holders
A state list of sales tax outlets, read live from data.texas.gov.
- What it contributes
- Business names, as a fallback to Overture. Names only, never phones.
- License
- Public domain.
- Attribution
- Business names (fallback): Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Active Sales Tax Permit Holders, data.texas.gov, public domain.
US Census Bureau batch geocoder
- What it contributes
- Map coordinates for each meter's service address, used to match the meter to the nearest business when the address alone doesn't, and to count the businesses around it.
- License
- Public domain.
- Attribution
- Geocodes: US Census Bureau Geocoder, public domain.
- Source
- Census Geocoder
US Census Bureau county boundaries
Used only in our map images, such as the county map on the meter counts page. They are not part of any export.
- What it contributes
- County outlines, from the 2024 cartographic boundary file for counties (cb_2024_us_county_20m).
- Terms of use
- Free to use in a product or publication, with credit to the US Census Bureau as the source.
- Attribution
- County boundaries: US Census Bureau, 2024 cartographic boundary files.
Phone check
A third-party phone verification provider checks each Prospect's phone.
- What it contributes
- Whether the number is valid, its line type and carrier, an activity score that shows whether the line is in service, and whether the number is tied to a known litigator in TCPA, FDCPA, FCRA or CFPB court filings.
- When it runs
- Fresh for each buyer, at the time of sale.
- Terms
- Delivered under our Terms of service. The results are information, not legal advice, and the litigator check can miss a litigator.
What we add ourselves
- The match. We match each meter to the business at its address. At a shared address, the business we name is our best guess among the businesses there.
- The website check. We check whether the phone appears on the business's own website.
- Usage and commission figures. These are averages for the meter's size class and our estimates, not the meter's own usage.
A Prospect does not include the meter's contract end date, its current supplier, or the names of decision-makers.
How meters are counted
Our public meter counts use ERCOT's file alone. What Medium and Large mean, which meters are left out, and how counties are assigned are explained in the meter counts method.