IT energy consumption is growing at such a rapid pace that we'll need another 30 power plants in the United States alone to meet demand. That is one of the findings of a recent datacenter study by the Uptime Institute pointing to a power crisis looming on the horizon. The study revealed that "its largest datacenter members have gone from an annual energy consumption rate of 6 percent for the years 1999 to 2005, IT energy consumption is growing at such a rapid pace that we’ll need another 30 power plants in the United States alone to meet demand.That is one of the findings of a recent datacenter study by the Uptime Institute pointing to a power crisis looming on the horizon. The study revealed that “its largest datacenter members have gone from an annual energy consumption rate of 6 percent for the years 1999 to 2005, to 20 to 30 percent in each of the years 2006 and 2007.”[For more on the study, read Datacenters heading for a cash crunch.] Running out of electricity can bring an organization’s growth — and even day-to-operations, to a grinding halt. Thus, it’s no surprise that major IT leaders are uniting on various fronts to tackle the problem, developing new technologies and best practices for datacenter efficiency. It’s not just to sell products; it’s really a matter of self-preservation.On that note, the Uptime Institute is hosting a symposium later this month, April 27 through 30, in Orlando, Fla. titled “Green Enterprise Computing.” “The symposium will aim to tackle strategic and operational hurdles and develop industry benchmarks for improving energy efficiency in datacenters,” according to Uptime.Speakers from IT heavyweights such as Microsoft, Yahoo, IBM, Intel, Sun, APC, and VMWare will give presentations throughout the event. More information about Uptime Institute Symposium 2008: Green Enterprise Computing is available on the Uptime Institute Web site. Technology Industry