Twenty New England colleges, not including Harvard, will collaborate in an effort to reduce energy costs, Joseph D. Kamin, a spokesman for Bowdoin college said yesterday.

The group will attempt to obtain Federal or private funds to finance a professional study of the colleges' energy situation, as well as to facilitate the exchange of energy-saving ideas.

Willard F. Enteman, the president of Bowdoin College, conceived the voluntary group as a response to the common energy problems which are driving up costs in northeastern colleges and universities, Kamin said.

Harvard energy officials said they were unaware of the energy group before yesterday, and speculated that Harvard was not included because of its larger size. Joe B. Wyatt, vice-president for administrative affairs, said yesterday that there are many energy-saving measures, such as a winter-long closing, which would be less applicable to Harvard as a major research institution.

The twenty college that will participate in the group effort are Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Clarkson, Colby, Connecticut College, Hamilton, Middlebury, Mount Holyoke, Norwich, Saint Lawrence, Smith, Trinity, Union, Vassar, Wellesley, Wesleyan, Wheaton, Williams, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Enteman chose colleges which he thought would share the same energy problems: private liberal arts colleges of approximately equal enrollment and spread-out campuses, Kamin said.

Harvard is making an effort to reduce energy costs on its own, James E. Duncan, energy coordinator fo the department of Buildings and Grounds, said yesterday. Duncan cited efforts to upgrade the house-maintenance computer system, to control building temperatures, and to reduce water use, as examples of conservation programs underway at the University.

Wyatt said Harvard is also compiling a long list of possible conservation measures whose feasibility depends on the price of oil. "There are some things worth doing at $50 per barrel that aren't worth doing at $40 per barrel," he said. "It's also a question of how much inconvenience and discomfort you are willing to tolerate," he added.