[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 42 (Friday, March 1, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15196-15198]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-04367]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[Docket Number: DOE-HQ-2024-0007]


Notice of Request for Information (RFI) Related to DOE's 
Responsibilities on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use 
of Artificial Intelligence

AGENCY: Office of Critical and Emerging Technologies, Department of 
Energy.

[[Page 15197]]


ACTION: Request for information.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) is seeking information to 
assist in carrying out certain responsibilities under an Executive 
order (E.O.) titled ``Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use 
of Artificial Intelligence'' issued on October 30, 2023. Among other 
things, the E.O. directs DOE to issue a public report within 180 days 
of the E.O. ``describing the potential for Artificial Intelligence (AI) 
to improve planning, permitting, investment, and operations for 
electric grid infrastructure and to enable the provision of clean, 
affordable, reliable, resilient, and secure electric power to all 
Americans.'' DOE is soliciting information on one or more of the topics 
outlined in this RFI to address in the public report. The information 
provided in response to this RFI will inform the preparation of that 
report.

DATES: Comments containing information in response to this notice must 
be received on or before April 1, 2024. Submissions received after that 
date may not be considered.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:
    Electronic submission: Submit electronic public comments via 
www.regulations.gov.
    1. Go to www.regulations.gov and enter DOE-HQ-2024-0007 in the 
search field,
    2. Click the ``Comment'' icon and complete the required fields.
    Electronic submissions may also be sent as an attachment via email 
to [email protected] in any of the following unlocked 
formats: HTML; ASCII; Word; RTF; Unicode, or PDF.
    Written comments may also be submitted by mail to: Department of 
Energy, Office of Policy, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 
20585. Due to potential delays in DOE's receipt and processing of mail 
sent through the U.S. Postal Service, DOE encourages responders to 
submit comments electronically in order to ensure timely receipt.
    Submissions must not exceed 25 pages (when printed) in 12-point or 
larger font, with a page number provided on each page. Please include 
your name, organization's name (if any), and cite ``DOE AI Executive 
Order'' in all correspondence.
    Comments containing references, studies, research, and other 
empirical data that are not widely published should include copies of 
the referenced materials. All comments and submissions, including 
attachments and other supporting materials, will become part of the 
public record and subject to public disclosure. Comments will be 
available on www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions about this RFI contact: 
[email protected] or Keith Benes, Department of Energy, 
Office of Policy, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585, 
240-278-5478. Direct media inquiries to DOE's Office of Public Affairs 
at 202-586-4940.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: DOE is seeking information to assist in 
carrying out certain of its responsibilities under section 5.2(g) of 
E.O. 14110 issued on October 30, 2023 (88 FR 75191). This RFI addresses 
the specific responsibilities cited below. Other topics in E.O. 14110 
are being addressed separately by DOE and other agencies.
    In considering information for submission to DOE, respondents are 
encouraged to review information on DOE's website for the Office of 
Critical and Emerging Technologies (www.energy.gov/cet/office-critical-and-emerging-technology). Respondents are also encouraged to review 
DOE's AI Risk Management Playbook (https://www.energy.gov/ai/doe-ai-risk-management-playbook-airmp) and the Advanced Research Directions on 
AI for Science, Energy, and Security report prepared by a consortium of 
DOE National Laboratories (www.anl.gov/sites/www/files/2023-05/AI4SESReport-2023.pdf).
    Information that is specific and actionable is of more interest 
than general statements. Copyright protections of materials, if any, 
should be clearly noted. Responses that include information generated 
by means of AI techniques should be identified clearly.
    E.O. 14110 section 5.2(g) directs DOE to undertake several actions 
``to support the goal of strengthening our Nation's resilience against 
climate change impacts and building an equitable clean energy economy 
for the future.'' Among those actions, section 5.2(g)(i) directs DOE to 
issue a public report within 180 days of E.O. 14110 release describing 
``the potential for AI to improve planning, permitting, investment, and 
operations for electric grid infrastructure and to enable the provision 
of clean, affordable, reliable, resilient, and secure electric power to 
all Americans.''
    E.O. 14110 directs DOE to undertake the actions specified in 
section 5.2(g), including preparing this report, ``in consultation with 
the Chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Director of 
OSTP, the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, the Assistant 
to the President and National Climate Advisor, and the heads of other 
relevant agencies as the Secretary of Energy may deem appropriate.''
    In this RFI, DOE is soliciting input for the public report called 
for in section 5.2(g)(i). DOE is seeking information regarding topics 
related to this assignment, including:
    1. AI to improve the security and reliability of grid 
infrastructure and operations and their resilience to disruptions.
    DOE is seeking information on how AI can be developed and used by 
private actors, public-private partnerships, and government entities 
(at all levels of government, including Federal, State, local, etc.) to 
improve the security and reliability of grid infrastructure and 
operations, as well as resilience of the grid to potential disruptions. 
DOE is specifically requesting comments on the use of AI with regard to 
the following topics:
     Grid Operations and reliability;
     Improvements in predictive maintenance for utilities;
     For rapid, accurate, and cost-effective load and supply 
balancing in light of increasing penetration of variable generation 
sources and increased opportunities for demand management through 
technologies such as electric vehicle charging/discharging, smart 
devices, or optimizing clean hydrogen production;
     To improve flexibility of power systems models or other 
interconnection software tools to facilitate more efficient processing 
of growing interconnection queues and handling distribution-side 
generation (such as rooftop solar) and increased demand from demand-
side interconnection as, for example, transportation electrifies.
     Grid Resilience:
     Characterization of impacts of climate hazards on 
electricity system infrastructure, connected to Climate Mapping for 
Resilience and Adaptation (CMRA) outputs;
     Opportunity for AI-enabled real-time self-healing 
infrastructure;
     Opportunity for AI-enabled detection and diagnosis of 
anomalous/malicious events;
     AI-enabled situational awareness and actions for 
resilience during and after a disruption.
    2. AI to improve planning, permitting, and investment in the grid 
and related clean energy infrastructure.
    DOE is seeking information on how AI can be used both by government 
entities at all levels of government (Federal, State, local, etc.) as 
well as by private actors to improve the planning,

[[Page 15198]]

siting, permitting, and investment in the grid and related clean energy 
infrastructure. The following is a non-exhaustive list of topics that 
may be addressed in comments on this topic:
     Opportunities for siting and permitting authorities to 
utilize AI (e.g., Large Language Models, multi-modal generative, etc.) 
to improve and expedite their reviews;
     Actions Federal agencies can take to support the effective 
deployment of generative AI tools to improve project planning, 
community engagement, and siting and permitting reviews (e.g., 
processing of existing government documents into AI- and ML-compatible 
data formats, clarification of standards around use of generative AI in 
preparation of submittals to government agencies, etc.);
     Steps Federal agencies could take to improve compatibility 
of existing structured datasets (e.g., geospatial data on environmental 
resources, endangered species, environmental justice, historic and 
cultural resources, etc.) with emerging AI models and/or to utilize AI 
to revise and improve those existing datasets;
     Opportunities to use AI to validate and improve monitoring 
of existing projects (e.g., environmental mitigation monitoring, supply 
chain risks, and socio-economic impacts, etc.);
     Opportunities to use AI to illuminate and address 
artificial, arbitrary, and unnecessary disproportionate impacts on 
disadvantaged communities from planning, permitting, or operation of 
energy infrastructure and to improve energy equity;
     Steps that should be taken to ensure transparency about 
any use of generative AI in government reviews and decision-making 
processes to avoid unlawful biases or discrimination in AI algorithms 
and datasets used.
    3. AI to help mitigate climate change risks.
    DOE is seeking information regarding how AI can be used to 
strengthen the Nation's resilience against climate change, including 
opportunities to help predict, prepare for, and mitigate climate-driven 
risk. The following is a non-exhaustive list of topics that may be 
addressed in comments on this topic:
     Opportunities to use AI to forecast climate-driven extreme 
events (e.g., wildfires, flooding, hurricanes, etc.) and their impact 
on reliability and resilience requirements, as well as potential to use 
AI to mitigate climate-driven extreme event risks or otherwise bolster 
reliability and resilience;
     Opportunities to use AI to understand and forecast climate 
impacts on long-term future resource levels (compared to historical 
levels) and its effect on resource adequacy and availability;
     Opportunities to use AI to improve or accelerate numerical 
weather prediction models, particularly on time scales relevant to 
infrastructure planning and operations.
    Across all of these topics, DOE is seeking information about costs 
and ease of implementation for tools, systems, practices, and the 
extent to which they will benefit the public if they can be efficiently 
adopted and utilized. DOE is interested to learn about how to handle 
liability for consequences of decisions made by AI algorithms as well 
as protocols to quantify the benefits of AI. In addition, DOE is 
interested in information about potential negative effects of broader 
use of AI on these systems, including concerns about data security and 
privacy, whether AI may cause unlawful biases or discrimination, and 
the possibility that AI could have artificial, arbitrary and 
unnecessary disparate impacts on communities, particularly underserved 
communities. Pursuant to Executive Order 13985 ``underserved 
communities'' refers to populations sharing a particular 
characteristic, as well as geographic communities, that have been 
systematically denied a full opportunity to participate in aspects of 
economic, social, and civic life, as exemplified by the list in the 
preceding definition of ``equity.''
    Confidential Business Information: Pursuant to 10 CFR 1004.11, any 
person submitting information that he or she believes to be 
confidential and exempt by law from public disclosure should submit via 
email two well-marked copies: one copy of the document marked 
``confidential'' including all the information believed to be 
confidential, and one copy of the document marked ``non-confidential'' 
with the information believed to be confidential deleted. Submit these 
documents via email. DOE will make its own determination about the 
confidential status of the information and treat it according to its 
determination.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Department of Energy was signed on February 
21, 2024, by Helena Fu, Director, Office of Critical and Emerging 
Technologies, pursuant to delegated authority from the Secretary of 
Energy. That document with the original signature and date is 
maintained by DOE. For administrative purposes only, and in compliance 
with requirements of the Office of the Federal Register, the 
undersigned DOE Federal Register Liaison Officer has been authorized to 
sign and submit the document in electronic format for publication, as 
an official document of the Department of Energy. This administrative 
process in no way alters the legal effect of this document upon 
publication in the Federal Register.

    Signed in Washington, DC, on February 27, 2024.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2024-04367 Filed 2-29-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P