Students face unusually high utility bills
Lately, natural gas bill prices for homes, apartments and even for the university have increased dramatically.
Junior business major Maura Spall, who lives in a five bedroom house on North Irwin St., said her natural gas bill nearly quadrupled in December.
“Our gas bill for December was $836,” Spall said. “I live with four other roommates, but still that’s outrageous. In previous months we’ve paid about one fourth of that.”
Spall is not the only one whose been affected by high gas prices.
GC&SU receives their gas supply through Georgia Natural Gas, and in December it cost GC&SU $103,369.80 to provide the school with heat.
The deadly effects of Hurricane Rita and Hurricane Katrina in September of 2005 contributed to the increase in gas cost. Resulting damage to many refineries in the gulf caused supply disruption, meaning the volume of gas is simply not there.
Kevin Murner, associate director for Operations and
Maintenance for GC&SU comes in contact with the university’s gas bill every month, He said there are few things students can do to help keep their gas bills low.
“Try and keep your thermostat set on 68 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter and your air on 78 degrees,” Murner said. “These are the federal standards to conserve energy.”
Spall said she has had to make adjustments since her gas bill sky-rocketed two months ago.
“Once we received our gas bill in the mail for the month of December we turned our heat down and hung a sign next to the thermostat reading, ‘DON’T TOUCH,’ in an attempt to lower it in the future,” said Spall. “Our bill for January was a little over $660- that’s a $176 decease from December. Lowering the temperature and not touching it made a substantial difference.”
Many students living in apartments don’t have to worry about high gas prices. Apartment complexes such as College Station and Bobcat Village include utilities in rent, so students always pay one flat rate.
“I live in a large house close to campus and luckily we don’t even use gas in our house- everything is electric,” said Alexa Turner, senior Rhetoric major. “It’s definitely more convenient this way and we don’t have to worry about budgeting each month for a high gas bill.”
There’s no telling when prices for gas will become reasonable. But, for now while prices are still high, conserving energy may save students from exorbitant gas bills.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Feb 10 2006. Filed under News.
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