ALBANY, New York (WRGB) – New Yorkers who use heating oil to keep their homes warm are expecting “a painful winter,” one expert said, noting that heating oil prices are nearly 70% higher than this time last year. Heating oil prices are affected by the same factors that have led to the surge in gasoline prices.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, more than 1.3 million households in New York state use heating oil to heat their homes. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) dashboard for heating oil shows a price of $6.27/gallon. A year ago, it was $3.71/gallon, an increase of almost 69%.
“It’s definitely going to be a painful winter,” said Michael O’Connor of the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG).
O’Connor points out that the fuel oil used to heat homes comes from the same place as gasoline: the Middle East. The war in Iran is keeping prices high.
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“Whether it’s gasoline, kerosene or even the asphalt our roads are built with, all of the oil that goes into these products is traded on global markets,” O’Connor said. He said don’t blame the local company you buy heating oil from because they don’t set the base price of heating oil.
“It’s really not the local oil company that is causing these high prices,” he said.
This week, the federal government released 315,000 barrels of oil from the Northeast Fuel Oil Reserve (NEHHOR) in hopes of lowering prices.
“This is great news,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R, Maine). “This will increase the supply of domestic heating oil by around 13 percent.”
But it’s unclear how much that could lower prices and whether it will help customers in New York.
As winter approaches, O’Connor suggests working out a budget payment plan with your heating oil company and making sure your home is energy efficient. Additionally, he urges homeowners to make sure furnaces are working well.
“Make sure you change those filters,” he said. “A very dirty furnace filter can cost you 5%, in some cases up to 15%. »
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