Power consumption may be reduced by imbalancing the loads handled by interchangeable components. Interchangeable components, such as memory devices, processors, servers, or other entities, may be imbalanced to reduce power consumption as circumstances allow. As a result, interchangeable components that are used to implement effectively the same function may be powered down or hot-removed and their duties transferred to other components. As a result, the deactivated component may be powered down to a reduced power consumption state, thereby reducing the overall power consumption of the system.