Ethical AI use in the energy sector

Details

The guidance includes:

• support for ethical deployment of AI technologies: safe, secure, fair and environmentally sustainable
• governance and accountability good practice
• assessment and mitigation of risk
• assuring competence on the part of the organisation
• sector-specific examples of AI use in practice

This document has been updated in May 2026 to include:

• an additional practice under Governance and policies (Practice 5) on proportionate organisational explainability and transparency (3.13)
• additional frameworks reviewed as part of this version (4.6)
• two considerations in the AI in consumer interactions section; 6.4c relates to embedding proportionate explainability consistent with the risk profile, and 6.4i is about ensuring ongoing transparency to consumers and stakeholders about the use of AI in a proportionate way
• an additional consideration in the AI in predictions and forecasting section, about providing clear explanations of the underlying methodology and factors influencing predictions (6.10g)
• a section on explainable use of AI in grid management (6.16)
• a section on AI in data analytics and consumer privacy (6.18 - 6.21)
• further clarity around use of black boxes (6.22)
• definitions of explainability and transparency (Glossary)
• other minor changes to improve flow and clarity