When your stock hits $500 a share and the profits are flowing in by the billions, you shouldn't be afraid of much, but the brain trust at Google has a major concern -- keeping the power on.

Google, along with Dell, IBM, Hewlett-Packard and others, are nervous about the cost and stability of the electricity that is the lifeblood of their business, and are taking action to make sure their future is not endangered. These companies host many of the world's largest datacenters, which contain millions of servers that keep the Internet and our financial infrastructure pulsing. The demand for data (and therefore the always-on servers to store it) is expected to continue to rise for the foreseeable future, and power will become an increasingly large share of IT budgets.

Many of the top tech firms have created a group called the "Green Grid" that seeks to create energy efficient datacenter technology, and they are working closely with the federal government to reduce risks from spikes in electricity pricing.

The titans of tech met with federal regulators so that they could have input into a national energy plan, according to the Mercury News.

"I think we may be at the beginning of a potential energy crisis for the IT sector," Victor Varney, a vice president for Silicon Graphics, told the regulators. It's clearly coming.''.

Congress is paying attention to the issue. This week both houses passed bills that will direct the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to study and promote the use of energy efficient servers.

While finding new energy sources -- through renewable energy or twists on fossil fuels -- is getting lots of attention from investors and the media these days, energy efficiency may be an even greater opportunity. The companies that develop a new generation of sensors, controllers and software that can reduce the amount of energy consumed by our computers and the rest of our appliances will be rewarded as the federal government and the private sector begin to seriously address energy efficiency.