Supply chain resilience and a broader energy mix have become more important.
Key takeaways
A capital spending spike, while positive, is adding demand pressure to the industrial ecosystem.
Utilities need to leverage alternative solutions to meet growing demand while minimizing cost.
What is the energy outlook?
RSM’s energy outlook provides insights into the major trends shaping the U.S. energy sector throughout the year. In our latest edition, we examine how the Iran conflict has reshaped energy resilience and implications for middle market energy companies. Our analysts also write about how the data center boom is reshaping the industrial ecosystem and how grid-enhancing technology solutions can help companies adapt to demand growth.
Energy trend 1: How the Iran conflict has reshaped energy resilience
The conflict in Iran—and the resulting disruption of oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and other refined products moving through the Strait of Hormuz—has had implications that go well beyond short-term commodity price swings and logistical bottlenecks. We anticipate long-term, structural impacts on countries’ and companies’ strategies around energy supply, resilience and supply chains.
Energy trend 2: How the data center boom is reshaping the industrial ecosystem
Major hyperscaler cloud service providers have announced an eye-watering level of capital expenditures in recent years amid the data center boom. Such investment, while positive, is adding demand pressure to the industrial ecosystem. More than generating demand, delivering against it in a constrained environment will be one of the biggest challenges for industrial companies. Businesses will need to plan carefully for sustained demand—expected to last at least into 2028—and invest in capacity, workforce and supplier relationships that can support multiyear lead times.
Energy trend 3: Power and utilities 2026 outlook: Demand growth meets delivery constraints
Demand for utilities— especially electricity—is rising rapidly, while grid and infrastructure upgrades move more slowly. At the same time, customer affordability pressures are intensifying while power and utility organizations need to recover costs from grid growth and modernization. The result? Utilities will need to grow quickly and do more with less, leveraging alternative solutions and changes to meet growing demand while minimizing the cost to customers.
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