State’s fuel cost up 82 percent> Government, university campuses trying to reduce consumption

AUGUSTA – Just as Maine consumers are feeling the pinch of soaring oil prices, so too is state government.

The state’s bulk-purchase price for No. 2 heating oil rose from 54.4 cents per gallon last winter to 98.9 cents per gallon this year, said Elaine L. Clark, director of the Bureau of General Services.

“It’s a very dramatic difference,” said Clark, whose agency seeks bids for 2.1 million gallons of fuel each year.

“What we’re trying to do is very aggressively reduce consumption.”

The state’s cost for the bulk purchase rose from $1.14 million last year to $2.08 million, an 82 percent jump.

The bureau, which operates the state’s large office complexes, seeks bids for oil to heat most buildings owned by state executive-branch agencies.

“It’s for … facilities ranging from the prison at Thomaston to the Baxter School for the Deaf, and includes everything in Augusta and the Stevens School in Hallowell,” she said.

Not all of the state’s large facilities fall under Clark’s jurisdiction.

The University of Maine System, the Maine Technical College System and the Maine Department of Transportation all handle their own fuel purchases and building operations.

University campuses are being hit hard by higher fuel costs, said Russell Smith, chief financial officer for the University of Maine System.

“This fiscal year, between electricity and fuel oil costs at all campuses, we’re projecting it will cost us $1.3 million to $1.5 million more,” Smith said.

University officials have requested funding to increase energy efficiency in university buildings, hoping to reduce consumption of oil and electricity.

Fuel costs are affecting budgets in other areas of state government, including agencies that operate the state’s 2,300 motor vehicles.

Transportation Commissioner John G. Melrose said high oil costs are hitting his budget in some unexpected places.

“We’ve got about 500 buildings (for which the Department of Transportation pays for heating oil) and we’ve had a cost increase for motor vehicles,” Melrose said.

“The other big influence on us is the impact of asphalt paving. Oil is a big component of that. You’ve got both the trucking costs increasing (due to fuel increases) and the cost of paving materials, so it’s a kind of double whammy. My guess is it’s a 15 percent to 20 percent increase,” he said.