Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton is one of 16 federal research sites identified by the U.S. Department of Energy as a potential location for future artificial intelligence data centers and supporting energy infrastructure.
The DOE issued a Request for Information (RFI) yesterday in the Federal Register, seeking input from developers, grid operators, and other stakeholders on opportunities and challenges in developing AI infrastructure across federal sites.
The RFI is soliciting information “from entities with experience in the development, operation and management of AI infrastructure,” and fromgrid operators that serve DOE sites on “opportunities and challenges associated with existing energy infrastructure and potential co-location of data centers with new energy generation.”
The RFI provides descriptions of each of the potential sites, including location, available infrastructure, and nearby energy assets.
At Brookhaven National Lab, the document identifies an approximately 90-acre area in the southwest portion of the federally owned 5,322-acre site in Upton. The RFI includes a map it says shows “the close proximity of the existing Caithness Long Island Energy Center, which could be the site of a new 750-megawatt gas turbine plant for the data center.”
A BNL spokesperson referred a request for comment to the Department of Energy, which could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Caithness Long Island Energy Center, located in Yaphank, already includes a 350-megawatt gas-powered power plant which has been operating there since 2009. The energy company is planning to build two battery energy storage facilities on its 105-acre site, Newsday reported last month.
Caithness previously proposed building a 750-megawatt plant, known as Caithness 2, on its Yaphank site, but the plan was sidelined when Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) and Public Service Enterprise Group- Long Island (PSEG-LI) decided the plant was not needed. The same Newsday article reported that BNL had recently begun exploring the idea of using a plant like Caithness 2 to provide power for a data center at the lab. Newsday first reported the publication of the RFI yesterday.
As Caithness was advancing the proposal for Caithness 2, Riverhead Town officials were advocating developing peaker-plant capacity at the Calverton Enterprise Park. LIPA in 2013 had issued a request for proposals for 250 megawatts of total peaking capacity to meet the East End’s seasonal needs.
Then-Councilman George Gabrielsen promoted the EPCAL site is an “ideal location” for meeting the East End’s peak electric needs, not only because of its proximity to both forks and the available vacant land at the park, but because the site has access to a 10-inch high-pressure natural gas main to supply the power facility, as well as a 69-kV electric transmission line.
Read prior story: Riverhead officials eye gas-fired power plant for EPCAL
Caithness was interested in building a 100-megawatt peaking plant in Calverton, Gabrielsen said at the time. It would comprise four 25-megawatt units that would be switched on as needed to meet peak demand, he said. Those plans never came to fruition, as LIPA shifted its focus from fossil fuel-powered plants to renewable energy sources.
A spokesperson for Caithness Energy declined to comment today.
Energy secretary: Trump initiative for ‘AI dominance’ is ‘the next Manhattan Project’
The DOE issued the RFI in accordance with President Trump‘s Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence and Unleashing American Energy executive orders, the agency said in an April 3 press release. “DOE is exploring opportunities to accelerate AI and energy infrastructure development across the country, prioritizing public-private partnerships to advance the use of innovative technologies and strategies,” the agency said.
“The global race for AI dominance is the next Manhattan project,” Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in the release, referring to the World War II project to develop atomic weapons, “and with President Trump’s leadership and the innovation of our National Labs, the United States can and will win,” he said.
“President Trump is committed to ensuring American leadership in artificial intelligence and Secretary Wright is delivering,” White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios said. “The Trump Administration will unleash Federal resources to build out the data resources needed for an AI-powered future.”
The potential BNL site is within the BNL Discovery Park District, described by the RFI as “an innovative public-private partnership concept” that aims to “promote federal and private development to enable mission enhancing technology transfer opportunities.” The 90-acre area is “expandable” and there are several similar-sized undeveloped areas on the BNL site that could also be considered, the document states.
Issuance of the RFI is the first step in a DOE plan to build out AI data centers and infrastructure with a target date for commencement of operation by the end of 2027, according to the RFI. Construction is anticipated to begin by the end of 2025, the document states.
“For the purposes of this RFI, AI infrastructure includes AI data centers, which contain specialized information technology equipment and associated cooling facilities, as well as their energy supply, including sources of generation, such as nuclear energy, and transmission and storage,” the document states.
“DOE sites offer potential advantages such as access to or the potential to build power infrastructure, secure locations, and opportunities for technological collaboration with DOE research facilities. DOE is considering opportunities to utilize these assets in a manner that enhances the United States’ leading position in AI and benefits local economies,” the RFI states.
“DOE’s capabilities and leadership in AI make it a natural partner for strategic public-private partnerships related to AI infrastructure ,” according to the RFI.
The RFI poses 59 questions in 10 categories of information being sought by the department.
BNL’s proximity to major tech and financial hubs, its existing public-private development framework (Discovery Park), strong energy access and research synergy — criteria used by the industry and government to determine viability and competitiveness for locating large AI infrastructure projects — make the site competitive in the selection process.
Responses to the RFI are requested by May 7, which is 30 days from the date of publication of the RFI in the Federal Register.
The 16 DOE sites identified in the RFI were listed as follows, “in no particular order,” the department said:
1. Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, Idaho
2. Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, WEst Paducah, Kentucky
3. Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Piketon, Ohio
4. Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, Illinois
5. Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York
6. Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, Illinois
7. National Energy Technology Laboratory sites in Morgantown, W. Virginia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
8. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Flatirons Campus, Arvada, Colorado
9. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
10. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland Washington
11. Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Plainsboro, New Jersey
12. Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico
13. Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico
14. Savannah River Site, Aiken, South Carolina
15. Pantex Plant, Panhandle, Texas
16. Kansas City National Security Campus, Belton, Missouri
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