Abstract <p>Hot rolling of wide steel strips is characterized by significant energy costs. Changing the process conditions can help to reduce the power consumption by the main drives of the mill’s working stands. The influence of continuous rolling conditions on the level of energy consumption is considered. It is shown that the value of interstand strip tension does not have a significant effect on the required power of the main drive motors, while the nature of the distribution of private strip reductions among the stands contributes to a change in the energy costs. Based on the established factors affecting the level of required power, a variant of influencing the technology parameters is proposed that will ensure the best energy efficiency of the continuous hot rolling process.</p>