Activating Power Management in Enterprises with Windows Group Policy
Power Management settings in Windows 10, 8, 7, and Vista can also be controlled through Group Policy. When used in combination with Windows Server (2008 and up), these operating systems make it easy to manage computer power consumption organization-wide (PDF, 273.92 KB).
Windows power management settings became machine-based rather than user-based after Windows XP. This means that any settings changed, whether by a user or by Group Policy, will be applied globally to the system no matter who is logged in. They will also be applied if no user is logged in.
Power management settings can also be configured on Windows PCs from a Local Policy or a Windows Domain Policy. Power Management items set through a Local Policy or through Domain Group Policy cannot be managed by users through Control Panel or powercfg.exe.
Note that there are two modes that put a Windows PCs into a low power state: Sleep and Hibernate. Away Mode is not a power management state, but a way to make a computer appear to be off while it is still available to share media and/or record broadcasts.
