Utilities regard cyber attacks as greatest risk to Germany's energy supply - survey

Cyber attacks and insufficient IT security concepts are regarded as the greatest challenges for Germany’s energy supply security, according to a survey among 150 local utilities commissioned by utility association Thüga. 

“Cyber attacks by far are the greatest threat to critical infrastructure,” the association said. The survey was conducted in March 2026, as the US and Israeli-led war on Iran pushed concerns about energy supply security back to the top of European governments’ agendas. Almost all of the surveyed companies (97%) identified attacks on digital infrastructure as the key risk to supply security, far ahead of physical attacks (42%) and supply chain disruptions (41%). 

A large majority of companies (85%) have responded by stepping up investments in IT resilience, the utility lobby group said. However, only 15 percent are also hiring experts to better safeguard their operations in the digital space. “Existing regulation complicate comprehensive hiring of staff,” Thüga said, arguing that better preparation against cyber attacks remains economically challenging for many local utilities.  

Commenting on the arson attack on parts of Berlin’s electricity network in early January, which left thousands of households in Germany’s capital without power for several days, Thüga said that not all physical attacks can be prevented: “there will never be one hundred percent safety.” What matters instead is the ability to restore supply quickly after an attack has occurred, the association said, adding that this would generally be possible thanks to close cooperation between local authorities and grid operators.