March 28, 2024
Local News

Kinzinger-backed bill to increase government energy efficiency passes House

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed bipartisan legislation to increase energy efficiency at government data centers. U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Channahon, and U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-California, introduced the measure.

The Energy Efficient Government Technology Act, H.R. 1420, directs federal agencies to harness best practices and energy-saving technologies to reduce energy use within the federal government's data centers.

“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,” Kinzinger wrote in the release.

He wrote that the legislation “will deliver savings to the American taxpayers by increasing energy efficiency, reducing overall energy consumption and eliminating e-waste in these data centers. I’m proud that the House passed this legislation again today and will continue to lead efforts to improve energy efficiency across the federal government.”

Eshoo wrote in the release that their legislation will bring the government’s data centers into the 21st century. The government operates more than 2,000 data centers to store everything from Social Security tax records to e-books at the Library of Congress.

Alex Ortiz

Alex Ortiz

Alex Ortiz is a reporter for The Herald-News in Joliet. Originally from Romeoville, Ill., he joined The Herald-News in 2017 and mostly covers Will County government, politics, education and more. He earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a master's degree from Northwestern University.