University students around the country are being asked to turn back their thermometers. As the price of natural gas continues to rise, universities are busy trying to find ways to account for the higher utility costs. For many schools, the new utility fees will translate into tuition hikes, but things should remain relatively stable for Stanford students.

“We are affected,” said Associate Vice Provost for Facilities Chris Christofferson, “but not as much as other universities.”

In the past week, articles have been run in the papers of Harvard University, University of Vermont, University of Wyoming and Ohio University regarding the increase in utility costs. On Jan. 13, Florida’s state universities asked the Senate Education Appropriations Committee for a 5 percent tuition hike.

Stanford’s utilities, however, are unique in that they work with a third-party-owned co-generation plant located on campus that locks in favorable rates, particularly for electricity. The contractor purchases gas out on the whole-sale market for use by the plant.

Co-generation refers to the fact that Stanford uses its central campus plant for cooling, heating and electricity. Many universities require a central plant, but house electricity elsewhere. The fact that all three utilities are under one roof allows excess heat to be used to generate electricity.

Christofferson called Stanford’s a “pioneering arrangement,” in which the Utility Department generates more power than the campus actually needs and then exports the extra power to the grid of Pacific Gas & Electric.

The biggest change, Christofferson said, is that there will be an increase in steam rates for heating buildings. However, the warmer climate puts Stanford in a better position than many universities where students are more reliant on heating systems for warmth. At Ohio University, the energy management director told students that if they could all turn their thermometers back just one degree, it would result in a 5 percent savings on the University’s heating bill.

Christofferson emphasized that projections are constantly being made and sent to the budget office.

“The increases we are seeing were expected and planned for,” he said.

The University also operates an aggressive conservation retro-fit program. Christofferson said that they have already implemented many of the ideas that other universities are just now beginning to try out, such as higher-efficiency lighting.

Each year, Stanford allocates $750,000 for retro-fit programs. In the case of auxiliaries or the Medical School, who get their utilities via Stanford, they can apply for project funding that will then be paid for out of this fund.

What happens when energy costs rise, Christofferson said, is that the University goes back and looks at the campus buildings that use the most energy. They then examine different retro-fit programs that might have a reasonable payback. Often, proposals about energy conservation in various buildings already exist but were not economically viable when they were first produced. High energy costs often make energy conservation projects more practical and more likely to be implemented, since the energy savings are higher compared to the fixed cost of implementing a project.