This year St. Olaf College may end up spending twice as much on energy when compared with the 1998-99 school year.

Although the college is consistently ranked as one of the national leaders in terms of low spending for utilities per square foot of space, this winter and various national energy problems are forcing campus officials to urge students to do their part to cut costs further.

St. Olaf is designed like a small city in the way its energy is handled. Gas and electricity are purchased from regional distribution systems and then enter the campus through one point before being distributed through internal systems.

St. Olaf also has the ability to use alternative sources, oil for the heating plant and a standby generator for electricity. However, with this past December ranking as the second coldest in Minnesota's history, the college is watching its utility bill skyrocket.

There are several simple suggestions to help the college bring the price of oil/gas down and conserve energy. One way is through students' use of computers. Turning computers off at the end of the day and over breaks could save tens of thousands of dollars annually. Making sure that computers "go to sleep" when they are not in use could help during the day. In "sleep mode" the average electrical consumption of a computer drops by over 69%.

Departments and offices should also try to get in the habit of turning their printers off at the end of the day. If just the campus laser printers were turned off during evenings, weekends, etc., the campus would save approximately $1000 a year. This amount could increase if ink jet and dot matrix printers were included in this estimate.

Another way to conserve energy is to keep the inner doors of buildings closed. Many campus and commercial buildings have entry vestibules designed to act as an "air lock" so the building does not experience a rush of cold air when someone enters. The interior vestibule doors are often propped open to seem more welcoming, but every time someone enters the outer doors the building's heating system has to react, and thus more energy is consumed than is necessary.

The college gets somewhat favorable rates from Xcel Energy because it has committed to being able to heat and light the campus when Xcel is unable to meet the entire demand. Since St. Olaf is able to do this, it will be a primary place for housing the community in a state of emergency.

Because electricity is distributed through a tunnel system, St. Olaf would be able to remain online even if a strong tornado hit the city. These efforts are also a great resource for Northfield. If weather, mechanical problems, or other problems surprise the utility company, they will ask St. Olaf to supply their own energy to make gas available for the homes and businesses in Northfield.

This is also true with electricity, especially during the hot, humid months when Northfield's energy demands comes very close to the limits of the system.

St. Olaf would also like to conserve energy by turning off more lights. However, safety codes require a certain level of lighting in most areas; and street, parking and walk lights to remain on.