Mitochondrial biogenesis, which depends on nuclear as well as mitochondrial genes, occurs in response to increased cellular ATP demand. The nuclear transcriptional factors, estrogen‐related receptor α (ERRα) and nuclear respiratory factors 1 and 2, are associated with the coordination of the transcriptional machinery governing mitochondrial biogenesis, whereas coactivators of the peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor γ coactivator‐1 (PGC‐1) family serve as mediators between the environment and this machinery. In the context of proliferating cells, PGC‐1‐related coactivator (PRC) is a member of the PGC‐1 family, which is known to act in partnership with nuclear respiratory factors, but no functional interference between PRC and ERRα has been described so far. We explored three thyroid cell lines, FTC‐133, XTC.UC1 and RO 82 W‐1, each characterized by a different mitochondrial content, and studied their behavior towards PRC and ERRα in terms of respiratory efficiency. Overexpression of PRC and ERRα led to increased respiratory chain capacity and mitochondrial mass. The inhibition of ERRα decreased cell growth and respiratory chain capacity in all three cell lines. However, the inhibition of PRC and ERRα produced a greater effect in the oxidative cell model, decreasing the mitochondrial mass and the phosphorylating respiration, whereas the nonphosphorylating respiration remained unchanged. We therefore hypothesize that the ERRα–PRC complex plays a role in arresting the cell cycle through the regulation of oxidative phosphorylation in oxidative cells, and through some other pathway in glycolytic cells.