Officials from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) both have to control the growing hunger for power of computer data centers that use their technology. Executives from both chipmakers gathered in the same room at AMD to talk over the problem at the behest of the federal government. Also in attendance were people from Microsoft, Oracle, Hewlett-Packard (HP), and Dell. Leading a recent roundtable of technology that centered around exploration of ways the companies and federal officials could work together to lower out of control power costs in computer rooms was Andy Karsner, assistant security of the Department of Energy. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has also been in discussions with Silicon Valley on ways to reduce power drain of server systems, which are the robust computers that use most of the power eaten up by data centers. In the past year, EPA officials have had two meetings of computer companies to assess the ways that data servers can be designed for consumption of less power. Congress recently passed a bill that directs the EPA to study and promote use of energy-efficient servers. Power consumption now makes up 40 percent of the operating budget of a data center, but AMD and Intel are now offering server chips that operate at lower frequencies and use less power. Customers, including Hewlett-Packard (HP), Dell, Sun Microsystems, and IBM, have made technology improvements, too, including cooling while reducing electricity used.