The operating point of a processing unit is controlled based on the power consumption (i.e., the rate of energy consumption) associated with a workload, wherein low power consumption may indicate short-duration workloads with idle phases and high power consumption may indicate long, sustained workloads. Energy credits are accumulated while a drain rate of a battery is lower than a threshold drain rate and the energy credits are consumed while the drain rate is higher than the threshold drain rate. The operating point of the processing unit may be increased from a first operating point to a second operating point in response to the energy credits exceeding a first threshold. The operating point of the processing unit may be decreased from the second operating point to the first operating point in response to the energy credits falling below a second threshold.