A new EPA report shows that data centers in the US have the potential to save up to $4 billion in annual electricity costs through more energy efficient equipment and operations, and the broad implementation of best management practices. The "Report to Congress on Server and Data Center Energy Efficiency" recommends priority efficiency opportunities and policies that can also lead to additional savings using state-of-the-art technologies and operations.

As the US economy increasingly shifts from paper-based to digital information management, data centers have become a vital part of business, communication, academic, and governmental systems. Over the last five years the increase in use of these systems, and the power and cooling infrastructure that supports them, have doubled energy use, increased greenhouse gas emissions and raised concerns about power grid reliability.
In December 2006, Congress requested that EPA develop the report to examine market trends in the growth and energy use of servers and data centers. The report complements EPA's ongoing efforts to develop new energy efficient specifications for data center equipment as well as explorations into a new Energy Star building benchmark for data centers that reflects whole building operations.
In the US the energy used by servers and data centers is significant. According to the US EPA it is estimated that this sector consumed about 61 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in 2006 (1.5 percent of total US electricity consumption) for a total electricity cost of about $4.5 billion. This estimated level of electricity consumption is more than the electricity consumed by the nation's color televisions and similar to the amount of electricity consumed by approximately 5.8 million average US households (or about five percent of the total US housing stock). Federal servers and data centers alone account for approximately 6 billion kWh (10 percent) of this electricity use, for a total electricity cost of about $450 million annually.
The energy use of the nation's servers and data centers in 2006 is estimated to be more than double the electricity that was consumed for this purpose in 2000. One type of server, the volume server, was responsible for the majority (68 percent) of the electricity consumed by IT equipment in data centers in 2006. The energy used by this type of server more than doubled from 2000 to 2006, which was the largest increase among different types of servers. The power and cooling infrastructure that supports IT equipment in data centers also uses significant energy, accounting for 50 percent of the total consumption of data centers.
Under current efficiency trends, national US energy consumption by servers and data centers could by 2011 reach more than 100 billion kWh, representing a $7.4 billion annual electricity cost. The peak load on the power grid from these servers and data centers is currently estimated to be approximately 7 gigawatts (GW), equivalent to the output of about 15 baseload power plants. If current trends continue, this demand would rise to 12GW by 2011, which would require an additional 10 power plants. These forecasts indicate that unless energy efficiency is improved beyond current trends, the federal government's electricity cost for servers and data centers could be nearly $740 million annually by 2011, with a peak load of approximately 1.2GW.
On August 2, 2007 and in response to Public Law 109-431 the US EPA ENERGY STAR Program released to Congress a report assessing opportunities for energy efficiency improvements for government and commercial computer servers and data centers in the US. The study projects near-term growth in energy use of US computer servers and data centers, assesses potential cost and energy savings related to computer server and data center energy efficiency improvements, and recommends potential incentives and voluntary programs to promote energy-efficient computer servers and data centers.
The report complements EPA's ongoing efforts to develop new energy efficiency specifications for data servers, including market and technical research, industry collaboration, and explorations into a new ENERGY STAR buildings benchmark for data centers which reflects whole building operations.
The report recommends a mix of programs and incentives, as well as a holistic approach to achieve significant savings.
Recommendations include:
An ENERGY STAR whole-building performance rating system for data centers;
Standardized performance metrics for data centers;
Federal leadership through best practices, public/private partnerships, education, training, and development of ENERGY STAR specifications for servers and related product categories;
Federal/industry research and development;
Financial incentives, e.g. tax credits and utility rebates.