Power IT Down day

A Message From the PSC:

Today is national Power IT Down Day. Its goal is to dramatically slash energy consumption costs by asking state governments across the country to power down computers, printers and monitors this evening. Last year, more than 2,800 government and industry employees pledged to power down their computer equipment on Power IT Down Day – a one-day savings of over 37,000 kilowatt-hours.

This is the second year of this effort and we have been asked by DOA’s Division of Enterprise Technology to help make a change for the better with Power IT Down Day. Industry leaders such as Citrix, HP, Intel and Microsoft have committed to switching off personal computers and peripherals when leaving the office for the evening on August 27 and we have been challenged to do the same.

Think about this: if just 100,000 state government employees participated in Power IT Down Day, an average of 1.3 million kilowatt-hours could be saved. That comes to an energy cost savings of about $130,000 in a single night. Power IT Down Day encourages government to embrace responsible energy usage at the individual level. We can all make a difference, not just on August 27, but every day — just by shutting down own computer and monitor every evening.

And, inspired by the cost-savings generated by Power IT Down Day, Citrix and its green IT partners plan to donate more than $20,000 to the Wounded Warrior Project (http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/).

Please help make a big difference by taking a small step toward creating a sustainable energy policy by powering down your computer and monitor when you leave work today.

Visit the Power IT Down Day Web site to sign up and learn more about green IT in government.