Electricity systems have generally evolved based on the natural resources available locally. Few metrics exist to compare the security of electricity supply of different countries despite the increasing likelihood of potential shocks to the power system like energy price increases and carbon price regulation. This paper seeks to calculate a robust measure of national power system resilience by analysing each step in the process of transformation from raw energy to consumed electricity. Countries with sizeable deposits of mineral resources are used for comparison because of the need for electricity-intensive metals processing. We find that shifts in electricity-intensive industry can be predicted based on countries' power system resilience. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.