A method of limiting power consumption of container instances instantiated on a host, the method comprising: upon receiving a request to instantiate a container instance on the host, identifying a container template to be used for instantiating the container instance based on the request, the container template defining a set of operating characteristics including one or more hardware or software resources of the host to be surfaced to the requested container instance; assigning a power consumption threshold for the container instance based on the set of operating characteristics defined in the container template and one or more power consumption measurements of container instances previously instantiated according to the same container template; and specifying the selection of a power profile assigned to container instances at deployment and specifying the power consumption threshold in the power profile; the method further comprising instantiating the container instance on the host according to the container template; during execution of the container instance, monitoring consumption of the one or more hardware or software resources of the host consumed by the instantiated container instance and converting to a power measurement; correlating the power measurement of the one or more hardware or software resources with a power consumption of the container instance; and determining whether the correlated power consumption exceeds the power consumption threshold of the container instance; and in response to determining that the correlated power consumption exceeds the power consumption threshold, reducing, from a current level, one or more of: a determined number of processor cycles over time useable by the container instance; a determined amount of storage input/output over time that can be performed for the container instance; a determined amount of network traffic over time that can be sent or received for the container instance; or a determined display setting of a display available to the container instance, thereby reducing the power consumption of the container instance to be below the power consumption threshold; wherein the container template also comprises a trust level for the container instance such that the power consumption threshold assigned to the container instance is a power consumption threshold that is lower than the power consumption threshold for a container having a higher trust level. upon receiving a request to instantiate a container instance on the host, identifying a container template to be used for instantiating the container instance based on the request, the container template defining a set of operating characteristics including one or more hardware or software resources of the host to be surfaced to the requested container instance; assigning a power consumption threshold for the container instance based on the set of operating characteristics defined in the container template and one or more power consumption measurements of container instances previously instantiated according to the same container template; and specifying the selection of a power profile assigned to container instances at deployment and specifying the power consumption threshold in the power profile; the method further comprising instantiating the container instance on the host according to the container template; during execution of the container instance, monitoring consumption of the one or more hardware or software resources of the host consumed by the instantiated container instance and converting to a power measurement; correlating the power measurement of the one or more hardware or software resources with a power consumption of the container instance; and determining whether the correlated power consumption exceeds the power consumption threshold of the container instance; and in response to determining that the correlated power consumption exceeds the power consumption threshold, reducing, from a current level, one or more of: a determined number of processor cycles over time useable by the container instance; a determined amount of storage input/output over time that can be performed for the container instance; a determined amount of network traffic over time that can be sent or received for the container instance; or a determined display setting of a display available to the container instance, thereby reducing the power consumption of the container instance to be below the power consumption threshold; wherein the container template also comprises a trust level for the container instance such that the power consumption threshold assigned to the container instance is a power consumption threshold that is lower than the power consumption threshold for a container having a higher trust level. a determined number of processor cycles over time useable by the container instance; a determined amount of storage input/output over time that can be performed for the container instance; a determined amount of network traffic over time that can be sent or received for the container instance; or a determined display setting of a display available to the container instance, thereby reducing the power consumption of the container instance to be below the power consumption threshold; wherein the container template also comprises a trust level for the container instance such that the power consumption threshold assigned to the container instance is a power consumption threshold that is lower than the power consumption threshold for a container having a higher trust level.