Leaving PCs on overnight costs companies $2.8B a year

USA Today featured a report released by 1E and the Alliance to Save Energy that found that half of the 108 million office PCs in the US are not properly shut down at night.

According to the report, U.S. organizations squander $2.8 billion a year to power unused machines, emitting about 20 million tons of carbon dioxide — roughly the equivalent of 4 million cars.

"Wastefulness does not just affect a company's bottom line, it creates environmental concerns. If the world's 1 billion PCs were powered down just one night, it would save enough energy to light the Empire State Building — inside and out — for over 30 years."

"Workers do not feel responsible for electricity bills at work, and some companies insist PCs remain on at night so they can be patched with software updates," says 1E CEO Sumir Karayi. He says 63% of employees surveyed said their companies should take more steps to save PC power.

"Simply shutting down PCs at night can save a company with 10,000 PCs over $260,000 a year and 1,871 tons of carbon dioxide emissions."

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/environment/2009-03-25-pc-power-company-costs_N.htm?csp=34