Columbia’s cold weather in recent weeks has kept some residents pushing up their thermostats.

In response to residents’ high utility payments and concerns about insulation issues, one student housing complex, Aspen Heights, has capped students’ bill payments at $75.

“This utility cap was our immediate solution for the higher utility fees resulting from extreme cold temperatures throughout the Midwest and the United States,” a Jan. 29 Aspen Heights statement said.

The cap will be in effect until February. Aspen Heights resident and senior Malorie Barnett said she expects the cap will save her money compared to her bills last year.

“I lived in a duplex off campus last year and had fairly high utilities there, so as a student that pays my own bill I couldn’t be more thankful to know that Aspen Heights is doing the winter utility cap,” Barnett said.

Another resident, senior Derek Wimmer said he was a fan of the cap as well.

“I think it is a great idea,” Wimmer said. “Anyone would be happy to be told that they are going to pay less money than they were expecting.”

Some residents have expressed concerns that the high bills at Aspen Heights have been due to poor insulation. Barnett said she has not noticed anything in her unit.

“While I don’t know anything about construction and haven’t had any issues with my house personally, I’m fairly confident that if there are issues with the houses they will take care of them,” Barnett said.

Wimmer said he thinks his large unit is the reason his bills were higher.

“I think a lot of it has to do with the size,” Wimmer said. “All of the houses here are pretty big in comparison to other housing complexes in Columbia.”

Aspen Heights said in a Feb. 3 statement that it completed an energy audit to identify units that were having heating problems.

“We recognize that there are multiple factors that could be contributing to the heightened utility costs besides extreme weather and we will be addressing those factors in the very near future,” the statement said. “For starters, we have completed a property-wide audit on kilowatt usage per unit to identify which units are working rigorously to heat the home.”

The statement said problem units might require additional weatherproofing or new heaters.

The utilities cap requires Aspen Heights residents to submit their bills online. Costs after the first $75 are credited back to the resident’s ledger.

Barnett said uploading her bill was simple.

“I will be receiving a considerable (amount) back on my Aspen Heights account,” Barnett said. “To receive the credit, it just took a simple upload of my city of Columbia bill on the Aspen Heights website.”