Natural gas prices are heating up around the world, and NIU, too, is feeling the pinch.

Mary Jo Marshall, director of waste management and utilities, assures that school officials are doing their best to counter the rising prices — which could carry over into students’ future room and board costs. Instead of paying full price for gas, NIU was able to work out a deal.

“NIU is currently locked in at a lower price than normal for natural gas,” she said. “So, the maximum price we’ll have to pay is 55 cents per therm (unit) of natural gas.”

Today, the normal price for a therm of natural gas is 80 cents, down from a peak of $1.07 on Dec. 21.

“The high that we paid last year was 31.4 cents per therm, and we were with the same vendor,” Marshall said. “I have a prediction from our natural gas representative, and he’s guessing March will bring prices up to 85 cents a therm, and they will continue to rise.”

NIU buys natural gas from Exelon, formerly known as Unicom. Its prices are nearly double from a year ago.

“By locking in, we’re saving a significant amount of money,” Marshall said.

One major issue arising from the rising prices is how it will affect students living on campus.

“The heating prices over the next year will probably go up,” Marshall said. “I’m sure it will raise the students’ room and board prices for the coming year.”

Robert Albanese, NIU assistant vice president for finance and facilities, said it’s uncertain what will happen.

“What we do with utilities is we build into the budget one fund with all the utilities including electricity and water, as well as heating,” Albanese said. “Utilities aren’t really a big part of the budget because about 80 percent of the budget has to do with personnel.”