Demand for energy is growing rapidly, including electricity, natural gas, renewables and more.
Key takeaways
A focus on resiliency will continue to be essential for companies to remain competitive.
From the evolving energy mix to the rise of artificial intelligence, we look at the top issues.
This article has been updated from the original, published in 2025, to reflect new events, conditions or research.
Throughout 2026, companies in the energy sector will need to adapt their operations proactively to thrive in an evolving landscape. This need to adapt applies across the energy ecosystem, whether oil and gas, power and utilities or renewable/clean energy companies.
The evolving energy mix, shifting energy policies and supply chain dynamics are just some of the factors that businesses in this sector face. A continued focus on resiliency will be essential for companies to remain competitive.
Here are the top six trends RSM has identified for energy companies this year.
1. Growth across energy sources
The North American energy landscape is experiencing a major transformation. Demand for energy is growing rapidly, including electricity, natural gas, renewables and more. Electricity demand growth is fueled by a combination of factors: increasing data center needs, the reshoring of manufacturing, widespread electrification and electric vehicle adoption.
To meet this rising demand, the sector has adopted an “all-of-the-above" approach to the energy mix—oil, natural gas, renewables, nuclear, geothermal and other emerging technologies—while also working on the underlying infrastructure needed to transport energy and ensure a reliable supply. Unfortunately, in the meantime, supply and demand dynamics combined with investment in grid modernization and resilience are driving up electricity prices for consumers and businesses.
Oil price dynamics continue to influence investment and supply decisions, while liquefied natural gas (LNG) is playing a pivotal role in meeting domestic and global energy needs. Major technology firms and utility providers are increasingly collaborating to address the challenges posed by data center growth and grid reliability, reflecting the industry’s commitment to resilient infrastructure and flexible energy solutions.
While the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) brought changes to incentives for solar and wind projects, the clean energy sector is expected to continue growing, though more slowly than in previous years. Rather than replacing oil and gas, clean energy will complement these sources, with natural gas no longer seen as a “bridge” fuel in the energy transition but a “backbone” fuel for decades to come.
Electricity demand growth is fueled by a combination of factors: increasing data center needs, reshoring of manufacturing, widespread electrification and electric vehicle adoption.
Anne Slattery, industrials senior analyst, RSM US LLP
2. Shifting energy policy and market dynamics
In the United States, a higher-for-longer cost of capital has been driving energy companies toward consolidation and streamlining; it is also causing them to preserve cash and to have a more strategic focus on improving enterprise value through margin expansion and additional revenue opportunities. For example, traditional upstream oil and oilfield services companies are even getting into power generation-related projects.
The OBBBA is also reshaping investment strategies, with the sector balancing fossil fuels and renewables amid evolving regulatory incentives. Geopolitical shifts, including changes in LNG export policies and global tensions, add complexity to market dynamics and affect oil price stability.
Nuclear energy has also seen a resurgence in interest in recent years—not only traditional reactors but small modular reactors (SMRs), microreactors and even fusion. Nuclear investment is coming from a wide range of organizations, including technology companies, philanthropists and venture capitalists, with additional support coming from OBBBA incentives.
Canada is shaping its policies to attract investments in priority sectors, such as clean technology, the electric vehicle supply chain and critical minerals exploration. Governments at the federal and provincial levels offer investment tax credits and incentives, funding and grants through various innovation funds and programs, government financing and targeted support negotiated directly with manufacturers. Canada and other global markets also continue to emphasize decarbonization and other environmental, social and governance goals. While U.S. policy has de-emphasized these areas over the past year, the continued focus on these issues elsewhere means U.S. companies doing business globally will need to consider them.
3. Digital transformation and the rise of AI
The energy sector faces new pressures and opportunities from the ongoing energy transition and digital transformation, not to mention the surge in energy demand. To remain competitive and resilient, energy companies are increasing their adoption of cloud solutions, automation and/or AI across business and operational processes, providing improved efficiency, reliability and safety. This will become critical as IT and operational technology networks advance, Internet of Things-enabled facilities proliferate and utilities update the smart-grid infrastructure put in place 15 to 20 years ago to a more modern, advanced metering infrastructure.
Analytical AI technologies, including machine learning, have come front and center as companies digitize their businesses with use cases ranging from the back office and cybersecurity to field operations and process optimization. Middle market energy companies can benefit from the lessons learned and investments made by early AI adopters—typically larger energy companies—to chart their own AI adoption journey. To take full advantage of AI, organizations should understand their existing capabilities, determine how to manage new risks and challenges, and collect and refine their data with intentionality.
Alongside AI, energy companies should explore how digital twin solutions can help them adapt in the current environment. Virtually modeling supply-and-demand scenarios before making costly changes to business operations can help businesses make more informed decisions, and digital twins can help companies in the energy value chain looking to expand their capacity while limiting capital spending.
4. Cybersecurity and resilience
As companies across the energy value chain are increasingly becoming digital-first companies with interconnected systems and automated business and industrial processes, there are more opportunities for cybercriminals to compromise businesses and disrupt critical operations. This has contributed to a shift in view on the value of cybersecurity for energy companies; once a cost center focused largely on reducing risk, mature cybersecurity programs have become a source of competitive advantage.
Energy companies play a key role in global critical infrastructure, providing the fuel that people, companies and countries depend on. But this also makes them the target of nation-state attackers and cyber warfare. As we’ve seen in recent years, successful cyberattacks on critical energy companies can have a ripple effect on other businesses.
According to the 2025 RSM US Middle Market Business Index special report on cybersecurity, nearly one in five (18%) middle market companies experienced a data breach in the previous year, falling from a record-high 28% in the data from the 2024 report. The decline in reported breaches is certainly positive, but 2025’s results are consistent with data from previous years, outside of the spike in 2024. However, with methods becoming more sophisticated, some attacks may go undetected, highlighting the importance of continuously strengthening controls.
Energy companies—and any third parties they work with—need to raise the bar on protecting themselves in this new world where workers, machines, supply chains and organizations are becoming ever more digitally connected.
To take full advantage of AI, organizations should understand their existing capabilities, determine how to manage new risks and challenges, and collect and refine their data with intentionality.
David Carter, industrials senior analyst, RSM US LLP
5. Supply chain shifts
Tariffs and an evolving trade environment will continue to affect organizations' supply chains and investment decisions, with direct impacts ranging from higher prices on key metals like steel and copper, as well as finished goods, to extended lead times for some goods. Rising electricity demand and the surge in data center needs are also causing ripple effects across energy supply chains.
Some U.S. companies are responding by prioritizing the reshoring of key production activities. This shift is driven not only by a desire to reduce tariff exposure but also to capitalize on tax incentives and strengthen domestic supply chains for critical technologies and resources, such as semiconductors and battery components. Addressing these supply chain vulnerabilities is crucial for supporting the rapid growth of the power grid and ensuring reliable access to the materials needed for energy and battery storage solutions.
6. Workforce transformation
As the energy sector navigates the growing influence of technology, particularly AI and emerging energy innovations, and as the nature of energy production/generation sources and the systems managing them change, the impact on its workforce will be profound. Companies must adopt more intentional and innovative approaches to attract and retain talent, especially as employee expectations and demographics continue to evolve.
The rapid advancement of AI and the digitization of operations demand that the current workforce adapt through upskilling and reskilling. Employees must acquire capabilities to manage and maintain new AI-driven tools and energy technologies, while continuing to support legacy systems.
This shift calls for a renewed focus on developing new skill sets that enable employees to leverage analytics in decision making and to collaborate effectively with robotic systems. Energy companies should prioritize comprehensive training and workforce development initiatives, ensuring workers are prepared for roles shaped by AI and digital transformation. Strategic workforce planning will also be vital as organizations determine which functions to develop internally and which to outsource to maximize growth and efficiency.
RSM contributors
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