Area colleges brace for substantial energy cost hikes - Boston Business Journal:

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The price of natural gas, oil and electricithy have risen rapidly in just a few While that’s a headache for everyone, collegew and universities, which have to power sometimeds sprawling campuses, are facing jumps in their operatinv budgets for keeping dorms and classroomse lit, heated and cooled. Having to maintain fleetxs of campus vehicles makes the situation even more The result is that many campusese anticipate paying out more moneyfor energy, costs that in some caseas will be absorbed by the schoolws but in other cases will be passed alonv to students.
“I have to believe that everyone, is saying this is a very seriouzs problem,” said Tom Costello, chief informationh officer and facilities officer atthe . He said the which has 11,208 students as of last year, expects a nearly 100 percent increase for the cost of During the last academic year the collegde planned on spendingabout $6 million on Costello said, adding this year that numbed will likely jump to $10.5 million. in Nortbh Andover plans to spendabout $3.47 million on utilitiees this year, a 12 percent increas e over last year, said Roberft Coppola, director of the physical plant department at the college.
Boston-baserd increased its utility budget by 8 percentt overlast year, spokesman David Rosen said. And the expectas to see a 27 percent spike for utilities over theperviousa year, said Randy director of utilities at MIT. At the budgetr for heating and cooling facilities will rise 13 percentto $4.8 but the costs of running campus vehiclee will jump 123 percent to $125,735, said spokeswoman Karehn Cady. To combat those kinds of increases the collegde will buy only hybrids inthe future, she said. Just aboutt every campus is attempting to employmore energy-efficientf technologies to defray any huge increases.
“What we’rer trying to do is hold the dollatcost constant,” said Gordon director of facilities planning and managemenft at , which for the past two yearzs has spent about $6 million annuallty on utilities. Boston-based Suffolk has spent $830,00o0 on energy-efficient technologies in the past he said. But most campuses can’tf utilize energy saving products as fast the current pricesof oil, gas and electricity rise, so inevitablgy at least a portion of the increases get passeds down to students.
For Salem State College’s board of trusteesx recently approved a 4 percent increassin fees, a quarter of which went for financialp aid and the rest went to energy Cady said. The fee breaks down to a $250 a year increasd per student. Many timesz the increases to room and boardx that come from higher energhy prices are not immediate becausre schools lockin long-term energy but “rising energy costs are usually one of the biggestr impacts on the operating said spokesman Colin Riley. Riley wouldn’t provide figures for any budget increases BU mighyt facethis year, but room and boarxd costs will rise by 4.3 percent to $11,418 a year per student.
Most colleges and universitiessaid they’ll watch the energu markets closely, snapping up contracts when prices dip. But Costello said there’s a fair amoung of luck involved in stayingwithin budget. “We’res going to hope $10.5 millionj is going to (be enough), but if we go to, say, $11.65 million, we’re going to have to find a way to do it shorf of turning off the heatand lights.
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