Public power utilities are participating in SAFERai.power, a collaborative initiative recently announced by the Electric Power Research Institute that will equip utilities and technology providers with the tools, evidence, and guardrails needed to scale AI responsibly.
“As artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly moving from pilot projects to real-world deployment across the energy sector, there is a growing need for trusted, consistent methods to evaluate operational risk,” EPRI said on Aug. 6.
Building on work from EPRI's Open Power AI (OPAI) consortium, EPRI said that SAFERai.power addresses the risks AI solutions may pose to critical power system attributes: safety, accountability, fairness, explainability, and reliability (SAFER).
More than 25 founding members representing utilities, technology companies, regulators, market operators, and reliability organizations are contributing expertise to help ensure the framework reflects real-world operational requirements across the electric sector.
The initiative will develop a common operational risk framework and open-source assessment toolkit to help organizations evaluate whether AI systems are ready for deployment in utility environments.
Initial public power founding members of SAFERai.power are:
- CPS Energy
- Nebraska Public Power District
- New York Power Authority
- Omaha Public Power District
- Salt River Project
- TVA
Other founding members are:
- Alliant
- Ameren
- ATC
- Arizona Public Service
- Centerpoint Energy
- Con Edison
- Constellation
- Cooperative Energy
- Duke Energy
- Exelon
- HData
- Microsoft
- Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc.
- NERC
- NVIDIA
- Pacific Gas & Electric
- PJM Interconnection
- SHI International
- Southern California Edison
- Southern Company
- WEC Energy Group, and
- World Wide Technology
"The utility sector is unique in that it requires a heightened bar for responsible and secure AI use to ensure the ability to provide reliable, resilient, and affordable power is enhanced and not compromised," said Robert Piascik, senior vice president and chief information officer at NYPA. "As AI capabilities accelerate, utilities, including large public utilities like ours, need clear, evidence-based methods to evaluate risk and maintain trust. The SAFERai.power initiative will provide the tools and structure required to scale AI safely, ensuring these technologies strengthen AI use in the energy sector and contribute to safer, more secure, and consistent grid operations."
"AI is ready to transform how the power system operates---but only if we make it trustworthy in the real world," said EPRI President and CEO Arshad Mansoor. "With SAFERai.power, we are building the bridge between innovation and trust, applying guiding principles to the tools needed for operations. Working together, we can ensure these powerful capabilities are deployed in a way that is safe and reliable for everyone," he said.
Delivering a Common Approach to AI Risk
The initiative will focus on three key deliverables:
• Risk Framework: This framework includes risk scenarios, failure modes, autonomy levels, guardrails, and use-case tiers.
• Evidence Packages: These will include AI system risk file templates for provider and deployer evidence.
• Assessment Tool: This open-source toolkit will provide for tiered and scalable use-case risk assessment.
Industry Collaboration
As AI adoption accelerates, technology providers and utilities must work together to establish trusted practices for deployment in critical infrastructure environments, EPRI said.
"Trust is the foundation for AI adoption in the power industry. Utilities operate some of society's most critical infrastructure, where reliability, security, and safety are non-negotiable," said Darryl Willis, corporate vice president of Energy and Resources at Microsoft Frontier Company. "To realize the full potential of AI, we must build solutions that are transparent, secure, and grounded in industry expertise so operators can act with confidence and deliver resilient energy systems for the communities they serve," he added.
Reliability and Utility Operations
Ensuring AI systems support grid reliability is a key focus of the initiative. Reliability organizations, utilities, and system operators will help shape the framework to reflect the power sector's unique operational requirements.
"Understanding the potential applications for AI can help us understand both the benefits and work with industry to mitigate any risks," said Jim Robb, president and chief executive officer at the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). "This effort will lay the foundation for that work."
To learn more or join the consortium, visit msites.epri.com/saferai.
