Energy Sector: Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources

Sector Overview

The U.S. energy infrastructure fuels the economy of the 21st century. Without a stable energy supply, health and welfare is threatened and the U.S. economy cannot function. More than 80 percent of the country's energy infrastructure is owned by the private sector. The energy infrastructure is divided into three interrelated segments:

• electricity,
• petroleum, and
• natural gas.

The sector's reliance on pipelines highlights the interdependency with the Transportation Sector and the reliance on the Energy Sector for power means that virtually all sectors have dependencies on this sector.

The Energy Sector is well aware of its vulnerabilities and is leading a significant voluntary effort to increase its planning and preparedness. Cooperation through industry groups has resulted in substantial information sharing of effective and best practices across the sector. Many sector owners and operators have extensive experience abroad with infrastructure protection and have more recently focused their attention on cybersecurity.

Read the Energy Sector Snapshot (PDF, 2 pages - 490 KB)