House approves Kinzinger’s bipartisan energy-savings bill

The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday voted 384-23 to approveU.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger’s (R-IL) bipartisan bill to reduce energy use within the federal government’s nearly 2,000 data centers.

“I’m proud that the House passed this legislation,” Rep. Kinzinger said, “and will continue to lead efforts to improve energy efficiency across the federal government.”

The congressman in February cosponsored the Energy Efficient Government Technology Act, H.R. 1420, with bill sponsor U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) to direct federal agencies to use best practices and energy-saving technologies.

“The importance of data centers in the everyday lives of Americans often goes unnoticed, but the federal government certainly depends on these energy-consuming servers as use continues to grow,” said Rep. Kinzinger.

If enacted, H.R. 1420 would require the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to collaborate with each federal agency to create a strategy for the maintenance, purchase, and use of energy-efficient and energy-saving information and communication technologies and practices, including advanced metering infrastructure; efficient data center strategies; improving IT asset utilization levels; building energy management; and secure telework and travel substitution tools.

“The Energy Efficient Government Technology Act will deliver savings to the American taxpayers by increasing energy efficiency, reducing overall energy consumption, and eliminating e-waste in these data centers,” Rep. Kinzinger said.

The U.S. Senate on Sept. 10 received H.R. 1420 and referred the measure to the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee for consideration.