An Energy Efficient Government Won’t Cost the Taxpayer a Dollar More

Earlier today, ITI testified at the House Energy and Power Subcommittee Hearing on “Strategic Petroleum Reserve Discussion Draft and Title IV Energy Efficiency.” Rona Newmark of EMC Corp served as our expert witness. ITI’s testimony focused on urging rapid enactment of the “Energy Efficient Government Technology Act" (EEGTA).

EEGTA would increase productive federal government use of energy-efficient and energy-saving technologies, and make the government more effective and efficient without requiring even a dollar more in federal spending. As the nation’s largest landlord, fleet operator, and purchaser of goods and services, the federal government has both the opportunity and the responsibility to lead by example in leveraging information and communications technology (ICT) in moving the U.S. in a less costly, more sustainable direction. The importance of doing so will continue to increase as intelligent efficiency and the Internet of Things become more widespread.

EEGTA was introduced last month as H.R. 1268 by Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), David McKinley (R-W.Va.), and Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.). EEGTA also serves as Sections 4111 and 4112 of the new Committee Discussion Draft Title IV on energy efficiency and accountability.

EEGTA is non-regulatory in its approach. Rather, EEGTA would bring enhanced partnership between the tech industry and the federal government in advancing energy-efficient data center strategies. Primarily, EEGTA builds on work already being performed by the Department of Energy and key stakeholders such as The Green Grid. In doing so, EEGTA captures ITI’s vision for the productive future of the partnership between the federal government and our industry. This future would include: an update to the government’s 2007 Report to Congress; further work on specifications, measurements, and benchmarks, and in particular on a new data center utilization metric; use of the Data Center Energy Practitioner Program; and, increased sharing of best practices and open data.

The federal government is one of the biggest operators of data centers and is also the single largest energy user in the U.S. Replacing and consolidating larger and older data centers with smaller, next-gen facilities would save the government money, cut energy consumption, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and provide early support for emerging technologies.

Our thanks to Chairman Whitfield and the rest of the House Energy and Power Subcommittee for providing ITI with the opportunity to testify this morning on the importance of EEGTA. We look forward to its enactment and a smarter, more efficient federal government at no price to the taxpayer.

Public Policy Tags: Energy, Intelligent Efficiency, Environment & Sustainability

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