A recent surge in fuel prices nationwide has directly impacted UAF, but the university has yet to establish a noticeable conservation effort to offset the rising prices. UAF officials say they expect to spend an additional $1.8 million on fuel oil in fiscal year 2006, on top of the $2.6 million the power plant spent in 2005.

"We expect to spend about $4.4 million in (fiscal year) 2006," said Steve Meckel, financial manager for Facilities Services.

Shuttle buses, heated buildings, maintenance vehicles and emergency vehicles are among many campus services that depend on fuel oil. One might think that with high fuel oil prices the university would implement changes in order to conserve, but has not happened yet. According to Cheri Renson, the public information officer at Facilities Services, the university has actually increased the number of shuttle routes this year. In addition to the two shuttle routes that circle the campus, a third was implemented in order to"give better services to the students and faculty between the other two routes," Renson said.

Renson said that not much can be done right now to conserve and offset the price of fuel oil. The new shuttle bus was not a part of the budget, and Renson says that the school is"currently working on rescheduling drivers to save money" to cover the cost of the new bus.

When asked about the conservation efforts, Renson replied that the school's fuel needs will grow despite conservation. "The conservation efforts can help the university slow down energy usage, but we are not looking to reduce it," Renson said."The campus is growing with new buildings and more people, energy needs will increase. We are trying to slow them down as much as possible."

Facilities Services is responsible for much of the campus' upkeep, and high fuel prices have been a blow to the department. Custodial services, maintenance of buildings and infrastructure, and grounds keeping are among their many responsibilities. "The rising cost of fuel oil has placed strain on our budget and presented us with challenges on providing services to the campus," said Steve Meckel, fiscal manager for Facilities Services.

The oncoming cold of the winter months will aggravate the problem. The university has yet to see the campus buildings heated to capacity for the long winter months, which is certain to increase the amount of spending on fuel oil. According to Meckel, the spending on fuel oil has risen for the university significantly in the past few years.

Meckel has high hopes that the coming year's budget will address the shortfalls caused by high fuel costs."Ultimately we are hoping that the state will increase our funding to cover (fiscal year) 2006 shortfalls as well as the projected shortfall in (fiscal year) 2007," he said. Until such help arrives, though, the university will have to dip into its reserves for help."For now the campus administration is planning to cover the (fiscal year) '06 shortfall with reserves. And it is my understanding that this action will deplete UAF's reserves," Meckel said.

Even though fuel oil prices are on the rise and are expected to increase in the coming years, the university has little else that they can do to offset rising costs. One option would be to replace fuel oil with coal where possible."Coal is a cheaper fuel, but the power plant has only two coal fired boilers and they are running at full capacity right now," said Meckel, who added that the school has enlisted help in looking for ways to save money and reduce energy use."The university has hired a consultant to help us evaluate our energy needs and suggest longer term solutions."