Kansas, once a major energy exporter, spent $1.6 billion to import energy from other states last year, according to a report released this week.

With state energy consumption on the rise and production from oil and gas fields declining, Kansas energy officials are using the report by the state’s Energy Resources Coordinating Council as a warning that the gap between production and consumption will only get worse.

“The net energy balance in the state has reversed itself very dramatically,” said Lee Allison, director of the Kansas Geological Survey and the council’s chairman. “We’ve gone from a state exporting a lot of energy, increasing our wealth by selling to other states, to a state that’s importing a lot of energy and spending our wealth.”

In the late 1960s, Kansas was exporting about 650 trillion British Thermal Units more than it consumed. The report says Kansas will be importing about that same amount by 2007, which will cost the state $2.5 billion.

That’s money that could be kept in Kansas’ economy, said Donna Johnson, president of Lawrence-based Pinnacle Technology.

“It’s a substantial budget number,” she said. “You could spend the dollar with your local company to buy local products. Or you could spend that dollar out of state, and it’s no longer going to your economy.”

The council’s report said conservation could play a major role in decreasing the need for imports.

The state’s energy use has increased 41 percent since 1960, mainly driven by increases in electrical use. Kansas also has become increasingly reliant on coal from outside the state — especially from Wyoming — because Kansas coal is high in sulfur, which harms the environment when burned.

Proposals include updating energy standards for new construction and entering into performance contracts for state buildings. Such contracts allow the state to pay for upgrades to existing buildings with the savings made by the upgrades.

Kansas University recently entered into an agreement with Viron Energy Services in Overland Park to provide $18.4 million in upgrades, to be paid off in the next 20 years.

Allison said Kansas also would need to focus on increasing energy production. The Geological Survey is working on new methods for extracting oil from depleted wells.

But Johnson, an advocate for wind power, said finding alternative power sources would be critical in the future. Wind energy could fulfill Kansas’ needs and become an export, she said.

“I think wind can be a huge part of the energy issues in the state,” she said. “But the limiting factor is transmission lines. That becomes a cost issue to build the lines to get the energy out of the state.”

David Springe, attorney for the Citizens Utility Ratepayers Board, a consumer advocacy group that deals in energy-related issues, said he didn’t think importing more energy had a major impact on rates in the state.

He said environmental stewardship — and not saving the state money — should be a driving force.

“We need to be using energy efficiently,” he said. “If it creates economic development along with it, that’s great.”