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4: The Government’s Role—Regulation and EPA Activity 59

To develop this report, the EPA convened a study team led by researchers
from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The study team offered
stakeholders multiple opportunities to give input to and review this report,
including the following:

■ Conducting preliminary calls with key stakeholders to help plan the
study
■ Holding a public workshop on February 16, 2007 (attended by approxi-
mately 130 people) to solicit input on the topic of energy efficiency in
servers and data centers
■ Following up on workshop attendees’ offers of assistance to gather and
refine information for the study
■ Posting on the ENERGY STAR Web site an open call for interested par-
ties to submit information, as well as a list of data needs
■ Posting on the ENERGY STAR Web site a public review draft of this
report
■ Incorporating into the final version of this report comments on the pub-
ptg
lic review draft from more than 50 organizations and individuals

The EPA’s Estimates on Energy Use in Data Centers
Through 2011
The energy used by the nation’s servers and data centers is significant. It is
estimated that this sector consumed about 61 billion kilowatt-hours (KWH)
in 2006 (about 2 percent of total U.S. electricity consumption), for a total
electricity cost of about $4.5 billion. This estimated level of electricity con-
sumption is more than the electricity consumed by the nation’s color televi-
sions and similar to the amount of electricity consumed by approximately 5.8
million average U.S. households (or about five percent of the total U.S. hous-
ing 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 esti-
mated to be more than double the electricity that was consumed for this pur-
pose 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