Energy costs hit UA hard, call for conservations
James Baker
Issue date: 9/10/08 Section: News
Dramatic increases in oil and natural gas prices are not the only setbacks leaving consumers feeling pain at the pump.
The UA was recently hit with a massive increase in its electric bill for the next year. The UA now must pay $1.2 million more than last year for electricity and is $1.2 million more than what was planned for in the budget for the 2009 fiscal year.
"Obviously, this is not an expense that the campus has budgeted for, but will nonetheless have to deal with," said Donald O. Pederson, vice chancellor for finance and administration.
"We make every effort to anticipate and budget for changes in operating costs, but the unprecedented increase in the energy markets in early summer could not have been foreseen," Pederson said.
Southwestern Electric Power Co. provides electricity to the UA and other customers through coal and natural gas. However, natural gas dramatically increased in price alongside oil this summer, and because of the summer spike, the state Public Service Commission requires SWEPCO to pass the additional cost to consumers, including the university.
"It's inevitable that the costs are going to go up, so we just have to suck it up and deal with it, kind of like gas prices," said sophomore Derek Oxford from Fayetteville. "[I'm] not one of those 'green' people; we don't need to waste all the alternative forms [of energy]."
While consumers, ranging from students to the university, reassess day-to-day activities because of rising energy costs in the economy, the nation's leaders have had a difficult time deciding exactly what to do about the current energy crisis.
Oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens recently developed an initiative called the Pickens Plan, which proposes exploiting the large amount of natural gas available in Oklahoma and investing heavily in wind energy.
"The United States is the Saudi Arabia of wind power," Pickens said in an Associated Press story.
The Department of Energy found the amount of wind in the Great Plains states is able to provide 20 percent of the nation's electricity, though the initial investment could come at a high cost of at least $1 trillion. A Stanford University study found that even if only 20 percent of wind worldwide was captured, wind energy could completely satisfy global demand seven times over.
The UA was recently hit with a massive increase in its electric bill for the next year. The UA now must pay $1.2 million more than last year for electricity and is $1.2 million more than what was planned for in the budget for the 2009 fiscal year.
"Obviously, this is not an expense that the campus has budgeted for, but will nonetheless have to deal with," said Donald O. Pederson, vice chancellor for finance and administration.
"We make every effort to anticipate and budget for changes in operating costs, but the unprecedented increase in the energy markets in early summer could not have been foreseen," Pederson said.
Southwestern Electric Power Co. provides electricity to the UA and other customers through coal and natural gas. However, natural gas dramatically increased in price alongside oil this summer, and because of the summer spike, the state Public Service Commission requires SWEPCO to pass the additional cost to consumers, including the university.
"It's inevitable that the costs are going to go up, so we just have to suck it up and deal with it, kind of like gas prices," said sophomore Derek Oxford from Fayetteville. "[I'm] not one of those 'green' people; we don't need to waste all the alternative forms [of energy]."
While consumers, ranging from students to the university, reassess day-to-day activities because of rising energy costs in the economy, the nation's leaders have had a difficult time deciding exactly what to do about the current energy crisis.
Oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens recently developed an initiative called the Pickens Plan, which proposes exploiting the large amount of natural gas available in Oklahoma and investing heavily in wind energy.
"The United States is the Saudi Arabia of wind power," Pickens said in an Associated Press story.
The Department of Energy found the amount of wind in the Great Plains states is able to provide 20 percent of the nation's electricity, though the initial investment could come at a high cost of at least $1 trillion. A Stanford University study found that even if only 20 percent of wind worldwide was captured, wind energy could completely satisfy global demand seven times over.
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