DOE launches resource hub to address growing energy demands

The Department of Energy has launched a resource hub that outlines available ways to meet a growing demand for electricity amid a push to adopt an ongoing net-zero emissions strategy.

The hub includes a suite of tools available to support public and private stakeholders — including utilities and data center owners and operators — in meeting growing demand while maintaining system reliability, affordability, and security.

“Today we are generating record amounts of carbon-free power – with more projected as the Investing in America agenda comes into full swing,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said. “DOE is uniquely positioned to help industry partners win this moment with clean energy while ensuring a ensure an affordable and reliable power grid for all consumers.”

Resources and announcements on the hub include:

Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for Clean Energy Development at DOE’s Savannah River Site as part of DOE’s Cleanup to Clean Energy initiative: This RFQ seeks proposals for projects capable of generating 200 megawatts (MW) or more of carbon pollution-free electricity, and is open to proposals including collocated loads, such as data centers.
Clean Energy Resources to Meet Data Center Electricity Demand provides additional context about data center load growth during the clean energy transition and lays out the broad portfolio of energy technologies and enabling solutions available today to meet rising demand. This release includes a summary of the 30-plus DOE resources and funding opportunities for utilities and data center operators, primarily providing technical assistance for state officials and other stakeholders, to manage demand growth.
Pathways to Commercial Liftoff Topic Brief: How Clean Energy is the Solution to Rising Electricity Demand outlines the opportunity to unlock hundreds of gigawatts of system capacity by accelerating full commercialization for multiple clean energy technologies, advanced grid solutions, and virtual power plants to help meet rising electricity demand.
How AI Can Help Clean Energy Meet Growing Electricity Demand announces the first set of milestones achieved by DOE’s VoltAIc initiative, which is focused on building AI-powered tools for environmental permitting to help speed up energy deployments. Key milestones include gathering a comprehensive National Environmental Policy Act dataset, developing AI testbeds for federal environmental reviewers, and demonstrating the effectiveness of large language models to increase efficiency and transparency with the public comment process, the DOE said.