[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 129 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 129

 To study and promote the use of energy-efficient computer servers in 
                           the United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 4, 2007

  Mr. Allard introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To study and promote the use of energy-efficient computer servers in 
                           the United States.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. STUDY.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Environmental 
Protection Agency, acting through the Energy Star program, shall submit 
to Congress a report describing the results of a study analyzing the 
rapid growth and energy consumption of computer data centers by the 
Federal Government and the private sector.
    (b) Inclusions.--The study shall include--
            (1) an overview of the growth trends associated with data 
        centers and the use of servers in the Federal Government and 
        private sector;
            (2) analysis of the industry migration to the use of 
        energy-efficient microchips and servers designed to provide 
        energy-efficient computing and reduce the costs associated with 
        constructing, operating, and maintaining large- and medium-
        scale data centers;
            (3) analysis of the potential cost savings to the Federal 
        Government, large institutional data center operators, the 
        private sector, and consumers available through the adoption of 
        energy-efficient data centers and servers;
            (4) analysis of the potential cost savings and benefits to 
        the energy supply chain through the adoption of energy-
        efficient data centers and servers, including--
                    (A) reduced demand, enhanced capacity, and reduced 
                strain on existing grid infrastructure; and
                    (B) consideration of secondary benefits, including 
                the potential impact of related advantages associated 
                with substantial domestic energy savings;
            (5) analysis of the potential impacts of energy efficiency 
        on product performance, including computing functionality, 
        reliability, speed, and features, and overall cost;
            (6) analysis of the potential cost savings and benefits to 
        the energy supply chain through the use of stationary fuel 
        cells for backup power and distributed generation;
            (7) an overview of current government incentives offered 
        for energy-efficient products and services and consideration of 
        similar incentives to encourage the adoption of energy-
        efficient data centers and servers;
            (8) recommendations regarding potential incentives and 
        voluntary programs that could be used to advance the adoption 
        of energy-efficient data centers and computing; and
            (9) a meaningful opportunity for interested stakeholders, 
        including affected industry stakeholders and energy efficiency 
        advocates, to provide comments, data, and other information on 
        the scope, contents, and conclusions of the study.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that it is in the best interest of the 
United States for purchasers of computer servers to give high priority 
to energy efficiency as a factor in determining best value and 
performance for purchases of computer servers.
                                 <all>