Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2001 No one immune to high gas cost

By R.W. Rogers and Sarah Sue Ingram Daily Press

Homeowners aren't the only ones paying the higher cost of staying warm this winter.

At Fort Monroe and Langley Air Force Base, higher-than-average natural gas prices are expected to put each base $300,000 to $350,000 in the hole.

And schools, governments and businesses have felt the heat, too, turning to cutbacks and budget adjustments.

Officials at both military bases said they might delay or cancel repairs and maintenance projects to cover winter heating bills.

"We have seen a 43 percent increase in the cost of natural gas. We are just like any consumer out there," said Lt. Col. Russ Vogel, Langley base comptroller. "We've felt the double whammy of a price increase and consumption increase. It's just hit us in the knickers.

"This could not have come at a worse time," Vogel said, "because we have already gone without the most basic maintenance for a long period of time."

Without additional money, new projects and renovations would be the first to be cut. Fort Monroe is turning to the Department of the Army or the Army's Training and Doctrine Command for extra money, and Langley is looking to the Air Combat Command for help.

Yorktown Naval Weapons Station's gas bill is up 20 percent over last year's because of the colder weather and natural gas use in buildings that have been converted from heating oil. Electricity has increased 8 percent.

Fort Eustis might be paying for this cold winter next year.

Army spokesman Maj. Thomas Collins said that most bases buy their energy from the Defense Energy Support Center, which sets fixed prices for a fiscal year. The center buys energy throughout the year and passes on any price fluctuations the following fiscal year.

Both Fort Monroe and Langley are exceptions in that they buy their natural gas directly from Virginia Natural Gas.

"The Army will feel the bite in the future," Collins said, "because we will have to buy fuel from DESC in the next fiscal year at higher prices so that DESC can recoup the increased energy prices of the current fiscal year."

Collins said the Army probably will have to seek a budget increase next fiscal year.

So far, others on the Peninsula haven't had to take measures as drastic as those at the College of William and Mary, which last week announced a hiring freeze until July 1 to help pay heating bills, which came in more than $1 million over budget. The college's primary source of fuel is natural gas.

Heating costs are also way up in Newport News schools. The school system spent $125,000 more on natural gas from July to December this year than it did in the same period last year, said Newport News Public Schools spokeswoman Michelle Morgan.

Hampton City Schools expects its heating bill to increase about 15 percent, or an additional $25,000, said Hampton assistant finance director Joe Lewis.

"We'll have no trouble coming up with the funds," Lewis said. "We'll be pulling from other funds -- whichever has the least impact on the educational process."

Thomas Nelson Community College projects a 45 to 50 percent increase in what it normally pays to use natural gas, said Howard Taylor, executive director of administrative services for the college.

"It's not a crisis level for us, although we're very concerned," Taylor said. "It appears to be a $35,000-$40,000 shortfall in what was budgeted."

The college will have to make up the deficit by adjusting its budget, Taylor said. In the meantime, college officials are taking energy-efficient measures such as putting on weather stripping and keeping doors and windows closed.

In Poquoson, the schools and the city are facing a 58 percent increase in heating costs for the year that ended Jan. 31, said Pam Moon, city director of finance.

"That is a pretty big increase, and it is significant since we were not expecting this," Moon said. "The schools will probably be about $25,000 over budget, and the city will probably be about $12,000 over budget."

Moon said she isn't seeking more money from the city council just yet. Instead, she's asking departments to make up the difference by cutting their own costs.

The city of Hampton is also asking its big users -- including the fire department, which operates night and day -- to be more frugal.

Hampton City Manager George Wallace said, "We're definitely feeling the increase in cost, particularly in relation to gas. We're not having to do anything drastic right now.

"We can move funds around, can absorb out of allocations. Some money allocated to electricity, for example, can be used for gas."

The Gloucester County government has had no immediate major budget problems because of utility costs. The Virginia Association of Counties negotiates rates in advance for all the counties, so they are not subject to the same variations as homeowners' utility bills.

The same cannot be said for gasoline bills. In a budget request to the Board of Supervisors, the Gloucester County sheriff asked for a $10,000 increase in the automotive supplies category to pay for a 16.8 percent rise in the cost of fuel for patrol cars.

Most of the James City County buildings don't use natural gas, so there hasn't been a major increase in those heating bills.

"It's gone up, but it's not up to where we've had to reallocate money," said county financial manager John McDonald.

In York County, where fewer than six schools are heated with natural gas, the higher costs have had little effect, said James "Mac" McReynolds, acting York County administrator.

The same could be said for Williamsburg, where few buildings are heated with natural gas, said Dan Clayton, public works and utilities director.

At Patrick Henry Mall in Newport News, all of the commons areas are heated by natural gas, and 75 percent of the tenants heat their stores with natural gas. This year those bills have been higher than normal.

"Over a three-month period, our average gas bill was the same as our malls in Pennsylvania, and it snows there all the time," said Kelley Daspit, marketing director for Patrick Henry Mall.

Coliseum Mall in Hampton has multiple sources of heat.

"We have a unique situation -- we can switch to oil or gas," said mall general manager Raymond Tripp.

Inside individual stores, Tripp said, "The light system generates an excessive amount of heat." So the lights keep the stores warmer than the commons areas.

"Our biggest cost is electricity," Tripp said. "We run air conditioning 10 months out of the year."

Stephanie Barrett, Miriam Stawowy, Judith Haynes, Kara Urbanski, Holly Roberson, Judith Malveaux and Susan Sharp also contributed to this story.

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-- Tess (webwoman@iamit.com), February 15, 2001