The Trump administration's efforts to satisfy the United States' need for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure further advanced when the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE or department) issued an anticipated Request for Information (RFI) on siting AI infrastructure on DOE-owned or DOE-managed land assets in support of future competitive solicitations. This RFI, issued on April 7, 2025, identifies 16 sites1 that may be suitable for AI infrastructure.2 In the RFI, DOE outlines an ambitious goal of seeking to enable construction of AI infrastructure on its lands by the end of 2025 and start operations at data center sites with co-located energy technologies by the end of 2027. Responses to the RFI are requested by May 7, 2025.3
The RFI not only supports President Trump's priorities set forth in Executive Order 141794 and Executive Order 14156,5 but it is also largely consistent with former President Biden's Executive Order 14141,6 which directed DOE and the U.S. Department of Defense to identify sites for data centers in order to accelerate large-scale AI infrastructure development. Unlike Executive Order 14141, the RFI does not require the data centers to be powered with clean energy. Instead, it seeks information on the type of energy technologies that might be of highest interest for co-location, including nuclear reactors, enhanced geothermal systems, fuel cells, carbon capture, energy storage systems, and portfolios of on-site technologies.
Information Sought
The department is seeking information on the following areas:
- Industry interest in any of the locations identified in the appendices for consideration7
- Potential data center designs, technologies, and operational models that could be deployed
- Potential power needs, timelines, and approaches to co-locating energy sources with data centers or sources for surplus interconnection capacity
- Financial and contractual considerations related to leasing DOE-owned or DOE-managed land for data center development
- Potential benefits and collaboration opportunities associated with siting AI infrastructure on DOE sites
- Economic, realty, and environmental information
- Potential challenges associated with siting AI infrastructure on DOE sites and any additional information required for potential solicitations
Responses to the RFI will assist DOE in prioritizing sites for future solicitations, providing additional site information to inform proposal development, identifying potential use conflicts and mitigation measures, and developing terms and conditions for realty agreements. DOE recognizes that any solicitation would have to provide information on acreage, water access, environmental sensitivities, land use plans, power access and energy infrastructure, security, thermal management infrastructure, existing compute infrastructure, and site access restrictions, among others.
DOE Authority To Site Data Centers and Co-Located Generation on its Owned or Managed Lands
DOE has the statutory authority to sell, grant leases or easements, or dispose of real property through a number of means, including its authority under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2201g), and the DOE Organization Act. It also may sell property to states under 10 U.S.C. 1304(b).8 During the Biden administration, through its Cleanup for Clean Energy Initiative, the department identified 35,000 acres on five sites previously used in the nuclear weapons program that could be repurposed for clean energy generation. After issuing competitive solicitations, DOE selected multiple solar projects to be sited on the Nevada National Security Site, Savannah River Site, and Idaho National Laboratory. DOE anticipates that it may take this pathway for siting data centers on the lands it ultimately identifies.
Takeaways and Potential Challenges
Constructing data centers and energy facilities on DOE lands could provide multiple benefits, such as increasing security and potentially accelerating development approvals. Further, as the RFI suggests, constructing data centers on federal lands could be cost-efficient, especially if the federal government is the user of that data center, as there is no cost to acquire the land, and property tax payments are no longer a factor. However, developers could face multiple compliance challenges, including negotiating terms and conditions of the realty agreement with a federal agency, environmental review and permitting, and interconnection. Given DOE's goal to fast-track the selection and construction of these data centers and potential co-located generation facilities and an ever-evolving landscape of regulatory requirements, developers should seek the advice of capable legal counsel.
Footnotes
1 The 16 sites that DOE has identified for development in the RFI are: Idaho National Laboratory; the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant; Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant; Argonne National Laboratory; Brookhaven National Laboratory; Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory; National Energy Technology Laboratory; National Renewable Energy Laboratory; Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory ;Los Alamos National Laboratory; Sandia National Laboratories; Savannah River Site; Pantex Plant; and the Kansas City National Security Campus. The RFI provides information about each of the sites in its appendices.
2 "AI infrastructure" refers collectively to AI data centers, their specialized IT equipment and associated cooling facilities, and their energy supply, including sources of generation, transmission (including substations), and storage.
3 Responses should be sent to aiinfrastructure@hq.doe.gov and include ''Data Center RFI Response'' in the subject line of the email. Any information that may be business-proprietary and exempt by law from public disclosure should be submitted as described in Section VI of the RFI. This includes information that identifies particular interest in a location with any particular party so as not to compromise the competitive position of any participants, assuming such proprietary information is correctly marked as confidential business information under 10 CFR 1004.11.
4 Executive Order 14179, Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence (Jan. 25, 2025).
5 Executive Order 14156, Declaring a National Energy Emergency (Jan. 20, 2025).
6 Executive Order, 14141, Advancing United States Leadership in Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure (Jan. 13, 2025).
7 DOE will not release information that identifies particular interest in a location with any particular party so as not to compromise the competitive position of any participants, assuming such proprietary information is correctly marked as confidential business information under 10 CFR 1004.11.
8 Note that lands that DOE identifies may be public lands that have been withdrawn under the U.S. Department of the Interior's (DOI) authority under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, 43 U.S. Code § 1714. Projects on withdrawn lands will require approval of both the agency managing the land and the relevant agency within DOI.
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