A system and method is provided for conserving electrical power in a telecommunications facility (10) containing a plurality of like electrically powered hardware resources for transporting call traffic through the facility (10). The method includes: monitoring a traffic load being experienced by the facility (10); selecting one or more of the hardware resources in response to the monitored traffic load, such that the selected hardware resources have a capacity sufficient to reliably transport the monitored traffic load thereover; and consolidating call traffic in the selected hardware resources.