Energy security today is no longer just a question of energy sources. It begins much earlier—with industry, technology, infrastructure, expertise and the people who make it possible to produce, transmit and use energy in the first place. In an age of artificial intelligence, the energy transition and a changing geopolitical landscape, these capabilities increasingly determine an economy’s resilience and competitiveness. Before any power plant can exist, we must have the capacity to build it, connect it to the grid and maintain it. That is why energy security begins before the first power plant.