In the early years of the 20th century, many large US companies employed a vice president of electricity to ensure sufficient supply for the fast-growing industrial economy.

Those days seem quaintly antiquated now – or so you would think. But power supply is becoming a very modern-day issue for many firms in crowded urban areas such as London and Manchester.

The growth of the IT economy is proving to be an unforeseen drain on energy resources, and access to additional electricity threatens to hold back availability of the computing power needed to support parts of our fast-growing service economy.

Are we close to a time when IT directors have to demonstrate their green credentials? Some vendors are already starting to hype their products’ lower heat and power output as a cost-saving benefit.

At a personal level, battery technology is one of the biggest factors holding back the development of mobile and handheld computing.

And as oil prices soar, driving up fuel and energy prices too, what once seemed like a minor consideration climbs up the IT agenda.

Chief executives, and especially the finance directors who pay the power bills, are likely to be knocking on the door to ask how costs can be contained.

On a wider basis, if the supply problem persists it will require industry-wide attention to find ways of sharing the load. How long before large companies can set up major data centres only in areas with sufficient spare electrical capacity? We could even see multinationals setting up IT resources only in countries with greater power reserves.

In our over-crowded and increasingly congested country, IT is rightly portrayed as a solution to problems such as transport, work-life balance, and the environment.

But to deliver those solutions, IT leaders may start wishing they had a vice president of electricity on hand. And they will certainly have to make green issues a part of their decision-making.