Energy Act of 2020, Title VIII, Section 8002 ("Smart grid modeling, visualization, architecture, and controls")

• Authority: United States Congress
• Parent authority: Federal government
• Jurisdiction: United States
• Collections: U.S. federal laws
• Most recent activity: Enacted
• Most recent activity date: 2020-12-27

Risk subdomain coverage

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the risk subdomain are described.

• AI system security vulnerabilities
• Lack of capability or robustness

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

This document has minimal coverage of AI risk domains, with only implicit mentions of system security (2.2) and system safety/robustness (7.3) through its focus on grid resilience and reliability. The document primarily addresses electric grid infrastructure rather than AI-specific risks, though it mentions AI/ML technologies as tools for grid operation.

Sector coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the sector are explicitly described.

• Trade, Transportation & Utilities
• Scientific Research & Development Services

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the sector are described.

• Information
• Educational Services
• Public Administration (excl. National Security)
• National Security

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

This document primarily governs the Trade, Transportation and Utilities sector through its focus on electric grid infrastructure and utilities. It also has significant coverage of Scientific Research and Development Services through its establishment of R&D programs. The Information sector is covered through telecommunications and data processing aspects of grid communications.

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a binding federal statute enacted by the United States Congress with mandatory obligations on the Secretary of Energy, using directive language ('shall establish', 'shall support', 'shall conduct') and creating legally enforceable requirements.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: United States Congress
• Summary: The document is a section of the Energy Act of 2020, enacted by the United States Congress as federal legislation.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Infrastructure_Provider, AI_Developer
• Entities: Department of Energy; National Laboratories; industry stakeholders; industry partners; grid operators; utility and non-utility entities
• Summary: The document targets the Secretary of Energy to establish R&D programs, with collaboration from industry stakeholders, National Laboratories, and grid operators who will develop and use the technologies.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Secretary of Energy; Department of Energy
• Summary: The Secretary of Energy is designated as the primary authority responsible for implementing and overseeing the program, with mandatory obligations to establish and conduct the specified activities.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Department of Energy; Congress (through oversight)
• Summary: The Department of Energy, through the Secretary, is responsible for monitoring program implementation. Congressional oversight is implicit through the legislative framework and reporting requirements typical of federal programs.

AI Lifecycle Stages

Lifecycle stages covered by the documents, as defined in the OECD Framework for the Classification of AI Systems

• Plan and Design
• Collect and Process Data
• Build and Use Model
• Verify and Validate
• Deploy
• Operate and Monitor

AI Lifecycle Summary

The document covers multiple AI lifecycle stages with primary focus on Build and Use Model (developing AI/ML for grid controls), Deploy (implementing technologies in grid operations), and Operate and Monitor (real-time control and situational awareness). It also addresses Plan and Design through grid architecture development.

Technical Scope

Terms relating to technical scope that are mentioned or implicitly referenced in the document

• AI Models
• AI Systems
• Predictive AI
• Task-specific AI

Technical Scope Summary

The document explicitly mentions artificial intelligence and machine learning as technologies for grid control and resilience. It does not define AI models or systems formally, nor does it mention frontier AI, general purpose AI, foundation models, generative AI, or compute thresholds. The focus is on AI/ML as applied tools for electric grid operations.