Evaluating AI-enhanced Controls for the Utility Control Room of the Future

February 05, 2026
31C
Artificial Intelligence , Workshops

The US Department of Energy aims to assess the current and emerging landscape of control room technology testing and evaluation. DOE aims to understand the needs and requirements for a 'Control Room of the Future' testbed by assessing the current state-of-the-art and projected technology trends, identifying evaluation requirements for emerging technologies, and summarizing the key needs for safe, secure, and high-performance deployment. High-impact use cases requiring validation and testing prior to operational integration will be identified and a determination will be made of where federal support could add critical value in enabling and accelerating safe and effective technology adoption in control rooms by utilities.

DOE has assembled a team from multiple DOE national laboratories (PNNL, NREL, ANL and INL) who will evaluate the need, scope, and functional requirements for a DOE-supported multi-laboratory, federated control room testbed to support the transition and acceleration of innovative technologies to real-word implementation. 

We invite stakeholders from the following domains to join the workshop:

  • Utilities to provide input on integration challenges and operator workflows, and utilities’ planning approaches and the phases needed to realize a Control Room of the Future.
  • Vendors to provide input on emerging capabilities and existing internal validation test practices, including the capabilities, availability and effectiveness of existing testbeds.
  • Other Operational Stakeholders (e.g., emergency management) to provide input on the information they require from the control room as well as the information they are sharing with utilities.

This workshop will support the DOE in defining 1) the highest impact use cases that need validation and testing before integration and adoption, 2) grid operations AI use cases that are anticipated to provide the greatest value, and 3) critical gaps in industry capabilities where federal involvement could add value by supporting safe AI integration in grid operations.