Despite a 21-percent drop in natural gas prices during recent months, students won't see the decline in costs reflected in heating bills this winter.

According to Scott Simons, a spokesman for DTE Energy, students can expect to see a 10-percent increase in heating costs compared to last year.

To prepare for the expected increase in cost, Simons said DTE stockpiled most of its natural gas earlier this summer — when the commodity was trading at more than $13 per million British thermal units in July 2008 — a high for the year.

Natural gas ended at $5.54 per MMBtu when the markets closed yesterday, but Simons said consumers won't see the effects of the decline before the end of the winter season.

"If we had known we would have waited," Simons said of the recent drop in price.

University Housing spokesman Peter Logan said the recent drop in the cost of natural gas hasn't translated to a reduction in housing rates yet. Logan said recommendations and potential changes to room and board rates would be passed on to the Division of Student Affairs and the Board of Regents later this spring.

"If we could forecast lower utility prices for next year, that would be certainly reflected in the room rates," Logan said.

University Housing works closely with Business and Finance Division's Office of Facilities and Operations to review their expenses as direct consumers of utilities. Last year, Housing allocated $9 million of its $103 million budget to utilities expenses in anticipation of higher natural gas costs.

Kim Kiernan, Facilities and Operations business manager, said the University didn’t lock into any preliminary utility expense rates last year. Rather, Kiernan said experience with past market instability caused Facilities and Operations to use a conservative utilities model.

"Our policies don't change, but we are always very forward-thinking," she said.

Facilities and Operations has encouraged energy saving through initiatives like Planet Blue — a University outreach effort targeted at students, faculty and staff to reduce energy consumption.

"We don't have control over cost, but we do have control as a campus community on how we use our energy," Kiernan said.

Kinesiology sophomore James Bistolarides, who lives with six others in a house on Benjamin Street, echoed the sentiment that heating costs have hit their usual highs for the winter season. Attributing some of the cost to poor insulation and an old furnace, Bistolarides said he has been frustrated with high utilities expenses despite recent improvements in natural gas prices.

"Our heating bill went from $30 per person to $60," he said. "We keep our house cold too. It's ridiculous."