House passes bill to trim energy use at federal data centers

The House of Representatives on March 14 passed a bill designed to make federal data centers use energy more efficiently. The Energy Efficient Government Technology Act, sponsored by Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), passed by a voice vote under suspension of House rules.

The bill requires the Department of Energy to update its 2007 baseline for energy efficiency at data centers, with an eye to making new data centers operate with less expenditure of power — and by extension less expensively.

The legislation also tasks agencies with collaborating with DOE, the Office of Management and Budget and the Environmental Protection Agency to come up with ways of measuring and verifying energy saving methods to make data centers operate with less energy. OMB would have to report on agency progress. Additionally, OMB would establish a program to certify tech workers in the evaluation and management of energy usage for the purpose of tracking data center efficiency.

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