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Energy Security

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Because most of the world's oil and natural gas resources are concentrated in a small number of countries, many nations have economic, social, and geopolitical concerns about energy dependence. RAND research explores options for improving energy security—e.g., the use of domestically available alternative or renewable energy sources.

Commentary
The Downside of a Lean Electric Grid
The electric grid is central to U.S. national security. Recent disasters provide an example of the downsides of leanness. It's more costly to be less lean, but given our dependence on the electric grid and the increasing prevalence of disasters, safety and resilience may be greater priorities.
Oct 13, 2020
Essay
The Hot Spots of the World
Scarcity of food, energy, and water endangers the lives of millions. So RAND created a tool with the potential to help make aid initiatives more effective.
Oct 13, 2016

Explore Energy Security

Dissertation
Ovens and Tinderboxes in the Golden State: A Mixed-Methods Exploratory Analysis of Joint Heatwave Power Outage Events
Examines associations between hazards, outages, and health outcomes for California cities from 2008–2020.
Jul 21, 2022
Commentary
Rebuilding Ukraine for a Changing Climate
When the war in Ukraine ends, the country will in all likelihood undergo a massive reconstruction. Ukraine could rebuild in a way that would both lower its carbon footprint and construct infrastructure resilient to the effects of climate change.
Jul 8, 2022
Report
Developing a Community-Led Certification Process for Facility Power Outage Resilience: Findings from a Massachusetts Pilot Study
A research team articulated power outage resilience metrics via stakeholder interviews and a literature review, piloted a certification program, and used focus groups to assess the Massachusetts Clean Energy and Resiliency program's effectiveness.
Jun 8, 2022
Periodical
RAND Review: March-April 2022
The cover story describes a yearlong study of a group of military veterans experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles. Other features examine the global digital skills gap and the magnitude and sources of disagreement among gun policy experts.
Mar 10, 2022
Report
Equity Metrics for Climate Adaptation in the Electricity Sector
Social equity has become a key concern among public agencies. The authors developed an illustrative set of context-specific equity metrics that Southern California Edison could build on and incorporate into its ongoing work toward climate adaptation.
Feb 17, 2022
Journal Article
Disaster Risk Creation and Cascading Disasters Within Large Technological Systems: COVID-19 and the 2021 Texas Blackouts
Here we describe the 2021 Texas blackouts during the COVID-19 pandemic through the lens of disaster risk creation and cascading disaster, showing how risk emerges and propagates across large technological systems.
Oct 15, 2021
Commentary
Is DarkSide Really Sorry? Is It Even DarkSide?
The U.S. military relies heavily on commercial energy assets, making the implications of events like the Colonial Pipeline outage more serious than just higher prices at the gas pump. The origins and severity of an attack dictate what the United States might do in response.
May 19, 2021
Commentary
China Does Not Have to Be America's Enemy in the Middle East
China and Iran made a deal in which China promised to boost its investment in Iranian infrastructure in exchange for a steady supply of oil. This uptick in Chinese influence does not necessarily erode U.S. power in the region. The United States may even find overlapping interests with China since both have a stake in containing conflicts and instability.
Apr 19, 2021
Commentary
Now Is (Finally) the Time to Future-Proof Our Infrastructure
The world is barreling toward a more volatile climate with infrastructure designed for the past. With infrastructure widely expected to be prioritized in Congress soon, every infrastructure bill is also a climate bill. It is critical that we make our infrastructure climate-safe.
Apr 1, 2021
Commentary
The Pentagon Could Help Improve Resilience of the U.S. Electric Grid
The resilience and robustness of the U.S. electric grid needs to be improved, especially given the likely increased occurrence and magnitude of natural disasters due to climate change. This is where government entities that operate large facilities in the United States, such as the Department of Defense, can potentially play a role.
Mar 25, 2021
Journal Article
Infrastructure Resilience to Navigate Increasingly Uncertain and Complex Conditions in the Anthropocene
Resilience theory can help infrastructure managers navigate increasing complexity of the systems and environments in which they operate.
Mar 4, 2021
Blog
Russian Propaganda, Domestic Terrorism, America's Electric Grid: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on how Americans react to Russian memes on Facebook, the possibility of domestic terrorism during election season, protecting the U.S. electric grid, and more.
Oct 16, 2020
Journal Article
Maintaining Critical Infrastructure Resilience to Natural Hazards During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Hurricane Preparations by US Energy Companies
This article describes the ways that an energy organization, the regional transmission operator PJM, is preparing for hurricanes during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article has implications for policy makers working to maintain infrastructure resilience to natural hazards during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Aug 11, 2020
Periodical
RAND Review: March-April 2020
Feature stories spotlight how technology can better serve the world's displaced people, the promise of supportive housing for people with mental illness, and a RAND climate scientist's personal brush with wildfire.
Mar 9, 2020
Q&A
Thinking Outside the Grid: Q&A with Anu Narayanan
Anu Narayanan, an engineer at RAND, is a specialist in what-ifs. Her research focuses on critical infrastructure and national security. In this interview, she discusses her latest work that explores what would happen if a cyberattacker tried to take down the power grid.
Mar 5, 2020
Blog
U.S.-Turkish Relations, Airports, Opioids: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on the future of the U.S.-Turkish partnership, helping America's commercial airports meet rising demand, the opioid crisis, and more.
Jan 17, 2020
Report
Relationships between the economy and national security: Analysis and considerations for economic security policy in the Netherlands
This study examines the relationship between the economy and national security in the Netherlands, with a focus on the characteristics and performance of the Dutch economy and the consequences of this for its national security.
Jan 14, 2020
Report
Options for Deterring Attacks Against the Power Grid
The U.S. military relies on electric power to accomplish critical missions. And most of the electricity consumed by installations in the continental United States comes from the commercial grid. How can the Defense Department protect the power grid from physical and cyber attacks?
Jan 6, 2020
Report
Valuing Air Force Electric Power Resilience
How well do current Air Force processes evaluate power resilience investments? A proposed framework identifies cost- and performance-related information in a clear manner that facilitates decisionmaking.
Jun 3, 2019

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RAND Topic:
Energy Security

Topic Synonyms:
Energy Access

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