A new proposal from state officials to limit the amount of energy used by computers could completely change the way that energy is used in the U.S., as well as the rest of the world.

According to NRDC.com, the California Energy Commission (CEC) released a proposal last week that would require computer manufacturers to meet new energy efficiency standards for computers and monitors. If adopted, the proposal would mark the first ever mandatory standard for computer energy usage in U.S. history.

The new mandate would require that all desktop computers reduce power draw by approximately half when in an idle state. Laptops and notebooks have already been manufactured to use much less energy than desktops, but the mandate would limit the amount of power these devices can draw while plugged in.

While this will begin as a state-specific regulation, the ripple effect it produces could eventually be felt around the entire world.

California is home to one in eight consumers in the U.S., and it’s also one of the biggest markets for computer sales in the country. Since managing different supply-chain standards to meet state requirements would be quite difficult, computer manufacturers would likely adopt these energy efficiency regulations for all of their products moving forward.

The proposal, in many industry leaders’ eyes, has been needed in California for several years. Energy use among U.S. data centers grew 36% from 2005 to 2010, and it continues to grow every year thereafter.

In California, where technology and innovation are the backbone of the economy, utilities have been urging the CEC to address the lack of energy efficiency standards for computers. They believe that this proposal will mitigate damage to the environment and help the state transition to renewable sources of energy.

As Biomass Magazine recently reported, the CEC has been quite busy as of late as it attempts to cement California’s status as a leader in energy efficiency. In March, the CEC approved $4.3 million in grants for projects aimed towards increasing the efficiency of natural gas technology for industrial and agricultural use.

NRDC’s independent research of the CEC’s computer energy proposal revealed that it could help to cut energy consumption by more than one-third. In California alone, this would save approximately 2.5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity and $400 million per year.

There is no timetable for the proposal to be reviewed, but the CEC seems dead-set on passing these new energy usage standards into law.