1. A method to manage power usage of a data center via an application level interface, comprising: determining, for respective nodes within the data center, power consumed by corresponding graphics engines of the respective nodes operating during a first time of operation; aggregating the power consumed by the graphics engines of the respective nodes to determine a power consumed by the data center during the first time of operation; comparing the power consumed by the data center with a data center power threshold retrieved via the application level interface; when the power consumed by the data center satisfies the data center power threshold, comparing, for the respective nodes, the power consumed by the corresponding graphics engines of the respective nodes during the first time of operation with a node power threshold associated with the corresponding node; and when respective ones of the nodes satisfy corresponding ones of the node power thresholds: invoking a correction period timer for at least one of the respective ones of the nodes, the correction period timer defining a correction period; monitoring the power consumed by the graphics engine of the at least one of the respective nodes during the correction period; after the correction period, comparing the power consumed by the graphics engine of the at least one of the respective nodes during the correction period to the corresponding node power threshold; and when the power consumed by the graphics engine of the at least one of the respective nodes during the correction period satisfies the corresponding node power threshold, setting the graphics engine of the at least one of the respective nodes to a graphics state to cause the data center to comply with the data center power threshold.