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The Juneau School District is estimating that efforts it took to conserve energy before last month's avalanches caused electric rates to rise sharply could save between $60,000 to $100,000 during the city's energy crisis.

The district is looking at spending about $290,000 to $329,000 extra to cover its electric bill, Administrative Director David Means said at a Juneau School Board meeting Tuesday evening.

Without the energy conservation methods the district began enacting a year ago, the cost would have been about $387,000, according to Means.

Means said the changes the district enacted last year were simple, such as using less light for school spaces that aren't in use.

The district also implemented other energy-saving strategies since the avalanches, including taking P.E. classes outside instead of using the gym and taking lights out of vending machines.