International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) announced it is researching a way to cut electronic devices’ power consumption by 90 percent and reduce so-called vampire energy, or power used while the gadgets are turned off. IBM’s Zurich laboratory is developing a transistor that would regulate energy usage more tightly than the current models, preventing energy from being used when devices are left plugged into an electrical outlet. Power from machines in standby mode cost U.S. households a total of $3 billion in 2005, according to the most recent Department of Energy figures. The project will last about three years, followed by several years of development and trials.