H.R. 5227 — Unleashing Low-Cost Rural AI Act

This section directs the Secretary of Energy to designate a National Laboratory (as defined in the Energy Policy Act of 2005) to conduct a study on the impact of artificial intelligence (as defined in the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020) and data center site growth on U.S. energy supply resources, prioritizing remote areas (i.e., areas identified by the Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service frontier and remote area code). The study must address (1) necessary updates to infrastructure for co-location (i.e., placing such sites on land owned and operated by a public utility); (2) feasibility of alternative energy sources such as hydroelectric dams, solar farms, wind farms, battery storage, carbon capture, nuclear, and geothermal; (3) impacts on energy costs, supply, reliability, land use, water use, and consumer costs; (4) deficiencies in energy supply resources; and (5) means to expedite National Environmental Policy Act reviews and permitting for such sites and associated generation, transmission, and distribution assets. Not later than 180 days after enactment, the Secretary must submit a report on the study's findings to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.