The average homeowner's energy bill on O'ahu has jumped 42 percent from last April, causing people such as Dorie Kaha'ulelio to turn off her power strips and hang her wet laundry instead of turning on the clothes dryer.

Kaha'ulelio used to pay about $100 per month to power her home in Pauoa. Then last week she opened her Hawaiian Electric Co. bill and couldn't believe how much she owed — "$165 even," she said.

"It was like, 'Whoa,' " said Kaha'ulelio, who teaches language arts, religion and Hawaiiana to middle school students at Maryknoll School. "I'm very concerned. I'm thinking maybe we need to go to the beach more often and take showers down there before we come home."

This year, as oil costs have risen, the size of residential bills leaped from an average of $148.70 in January to $162.37 in April. By comparison, the average O'ahu homeowner paid just $122.78 in April 2006.

"Energy bills have fluctuated up and down depending on fuel prices," said HECO spokesman Darren Pai.

As oil prices continue to rise and Hawai'i heads into summer, more and more people have to budget for higher monthly energy bills, cut back on their energy consumption — or both.

Kaha'ulelio has tried to make up for her higher energy bills by eating out less and riding TheBus more instead of driving her gas-sucking Chevy Tahoe sport utility vehicle.

Some of the solutions — for both individual homes and large businesses — might be found in the efforts of a dozen University of Hawai'i students at the seven-story Saunders Hall on the Manoa campus.

"There's so much that can be done with these old giants," said the group's leader, Shanah Trevenna, who has an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering and is pursuing a master's in futures studies.

The students at Saunders have found that some of the most effective ways to save energy and money may be the simplest.

Trevenna keeps her office telephone, printer, laptop computer and desk light connected to a simple power strip that she turns off whenever she leaves.

"Up to 10 percent of your energy costs can come from phantom loads when the appliances are still drawing electricity even though you're not using them," she said.

'HUB' HELPS OUT

The student group known as The Hub — for Help Us Bridge — surveyed all of the people with offices in Saunders and discovered that the biggest complaint was that the building was too cold.

Two-thirds of the 200 offices were set automatically at 71 degrees. But people who can control their temperatures actually set their thermostats higher — at 76 degrees.

Some of the instructors keep their classroom doors open to moderate the temperature, and others even use space heaters in their offices.

The second gripe was that the lights were too bright.

By the end of the summer, the students will remove 2,000 fluorescent tubes from Saunders, which will qualify the students for a $5 HECO rebate per bulb.

"We are realizing that most buildings are overlit, causing eyestrain and headaches — in addition to higher bills," Trevenna said.

The result will be $15,000 in energy savings and an extra $10,000 in HECO rebates, "which we plan to use for occupancy sensors that turn your lighting, power bars and air conditioning on and off when you enter or leave a room," Trevenna said.

The students have already replaced 113 incandescent bulbs in bathrooms and hallways with the more expensive, but energy-efficient compact fluorescents that will save Saunders more than $6,000 per year in lower energy bills. The entire cost of the CFLs was reimbursed by HECO rebates.

By fall, Trevenna expects to see lighting costs down more than 50 percent for Saunders and a 30 percent savings in air conditioning.

While UH officials work to cut the Manoa campus's energy use 30 percent overall by 2012, the students expect to meet the same 30 percent goal for Saunders by the end of this year.

"There's a movement happening," Trevenna said. "When we set out to do this project it seemed impossible to make a dent in the energy bill. Now it's made the impossible possible."

HILTON'S 'GREEN TIPS'

The 22-acre Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa is also trying to enlist guests in saving energy.

In January, the resort created an Energy Conservation Committee to focus on energy needs.

"We've noticed an increased amount of awareness about energy conservation among our managers and employees, especially since the high energy surcharges are now starting to impact everyone's own home energy bills as well," said Kevin Toltzmann, assistant director of property operations.

The committee also developed a "Green Tip of the Month" feature on the list of updates that comes with every room — such as asking guests to put towels they want changed on their bathroom floors, or completely turning off their televisions, lights, computers and air conditioners to reduce pollution and global warming.

The resort's oceanfront Alii Tower also will be outfitted with window tinting in the next few months that's expected to save 125,000 kilowatt hours per year in reduced air conditioning use.

"We've scaled back the length of time that the gas torches are lit on our property, reducing the total gas consumption of the torches by 25 percent," Toltzmann said. "We've started shutting down all escalators to our ballroom areas during the overnight hours, or whenever there aren't functions booked in either the Coral or Tapa ballrooms."

NO 'PHANTOM LOADS'

Kaha'ulelio, the Maryknoll teacher, said she's unplugging her cell-phone chargers when not in use to eliminate "phantom loads," and vacuuming judiciously.

She's using a clothesline, but has found that turning off the clothes dryer has its downside.

"It rains a lot here," Kaha'ulelio said. "Sometimes the clothes have to stay on the line longer than I want. Airing laundry isn't always such a good thing with your underwear hanging out there."