[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]
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