We consider the $s$-energy $$ E(\ZZ_n;s)=\sum_{i \neq j} K(\|z_{i,n}-z_{j,n}\|;s) $$ for point sets $\ZZ_n=\{ z_{k,n}:k=0,\dots,n\}$ on certain compact sets $\Ga$ in $\R^d$ having finite one-dimensional Hausdorff measure, where $$ K(t;s)= \begin{cases} t^{-s} ,& \mbox{if } s>0, \\ -\ln t, & \mbox{if } s=0, \end{cases} $$ is the Riesz kernel. Asymptotics for the minimum $s$-energy and the distribution of minimizing sequences of points is studied. In particular, we prove that, for $s\geq 1$, the minimizing nodes for a rectifiable Jordan curve $\Ga$ distribute asymptotically uniformly with respect to arclength as $n\to\infty$.