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Heating oil prices up 59% from last winter squeeze Maine households

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Summary

  • Heating oil averaged about $5.91 a gallon nationally as of Nov. 9, 2026, up 59% from a year earlier, and about $5.83 in Maine, where roughly half of homes use it.
  • The Energy Information Administration forecasts heating-oil households will spend about $2,115 this winter, 21% more than last year, amid supply shocks from the Iran and Russia-Ukraine wars.
  • Lawmakers have asked for $3 billion more in LIHEAP funding, and the Trump administration said Nov. 4 it would release 300,000 barrels from the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve.
  • About 4.1 million US households, nearly 3.4 million of them in the Northeast, use heating oil as their primary heating source.
  • Maine's AVEC Community Action opened its emergency fuel line Nov. 2 and received 150 voicemail messages in the first hour, saying need is outpacing benefits.
  • The government released about $3.63 billion in LIHEAP funding nationwide on Oct. 9, about 90% of what is available under the current continuing resolution.

Reactions

  • Jason Parent, CEO of Maine nonprofit AVEC Community Action, said the price jump 'is crushing folks' already squeezed by the cost of living.
  • University of Maine economics professor Jonathan Rubin called the 300,000-barrel reserve release a modest short-term buffer, with its effect depending on how the oil is doled out.
  • Hersey, Maine resident Catherine Lafleche, who burned Amazon boxes in a wood stove after running out of oil, described AVEC as a lifeline and said people in her position do not deserve to be cold.
  • Dozens of House lawmakers, mostly Democrats, signed an Oct. 14 letter seeking $3 billion in emergency supplemental LIHEAP funding.
  • An Oct. 1 letter from Democratic senators and Sen. Bernie Sanders asked Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to seek at least $3 billion more for LIHEAP.
  • The Energy Information Administration predicts a warmer Northeast winter will reduce consumption, partially offsetting higher prices.

Timeline newest first

  1. The national average heating oil price was about $5.91 a gallon as of Nov. 9, 2026, up about 59% from a year earlier, with Maine averaging about $5.83, up about 75%.
  2. AVEC Community Action opened its Energy Crisis Intervention Program emergency fuel line on Nov. 2, 2026, and received 150 voicemail messages in the first hour.
  3. On Nov. 4, 2026, the Trump administration said it would release 300,000 barrels of heating oil from the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve to help bring prices down.
  4. Dozens of House lawmakers, mostly Democrats, signed an Oct. 14, 2026 letter to the House Appropriations Committee seeking $3 billion in supplemental LIHEAP funding.
  5. A group of Democratic senators and Sen. Bernie Sanders sent an Oct. 1, 2026 letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asking him to seek at least $3 billion more for LIHEAP.
  6. The government released roughly $3.63 billion in LIHEAP funding nationwide on Oct. 9, 2026, about 90% of the amount available under the current continuing resolution.
  7. Catherine Lafleche of Hersey, Maine ran out of heating oil in early October 2026 and relied on a small wood stove, burning boxes collected from local residents.
  8. In late October 2026, an AVEC representative told Lafleche a charitable donation would cover 100 gallons of heating oil for her home.
  9. Maine and tribal grantees received about $38 million from LIHEAP in October, according to outgoing Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

Sources newest first

  • Heating oil prices are up 59% from last winter. The spike is 'crushing folks,' Maine nonprofit sayscnbc.com· 7h

    A CNBC report says heating oil prices have climbed about 59% from last winter, averaging $5.91 a gallon nationally and $5.83 in Maine, where roughly half of homes use it, and Jason Parent of AVEC Community Action says the spike "is crushing folks" already squeezed by the cost of living. The article describes Energy Information Administration forecasts that heating-oil households will spend about $2,115 this winter, 21% more than last year, congressional requests for $3 billion more in LIHEAP funding, a 300,000-barrel release from the Northeast heating oil reserve, and Maine residents like Catherine Lafleche, who burned Amazon boxes in a wood stove after running out of oil.