Because of the smart grid's expansive scope, it's easy to overlook how it could impact standalone data centers, which will remain a mainstay of IT for the foreseeable future, whether or not a nationwide smart grid is built.

With data centers and servers accounting for 2 percent of the nation's total electricity consumption, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the smart grid would presumably help decrease consumption, and thereby save money. This would be a welcome development for cash-strapped government IT departments that have no choice but to pay the costs of maintaining their data centers.

According to calculations in April 2009 by the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration, energy-related projects funded by the economic stimulus package are projected to reduce peak demand 5 percent by 2030, and reduce "line losses" -- the amount of electricity lost during transmission -- by as much as 28 billion kilowatt hours.

These numbers suggest the smart grid would be more energy efficient and less strained -- factors that likely mean lower costs for power consumption.

"Cooling is one of the most significant costs for a data center, so if we can build that kind of [smart grid] technology and more efficient servers to put in those buildings, then we're really going to be able to reduce overall usage," said Tony Erickson, global utilities director of EDS.