If you’re a typical Mainer, you paid $1,950 to heat your home this winter season. In case you’re wondering, that’s 37 percent more than last year.
In cold cash, that’s $530 extra that went up the chimney.
That’s also a record in terms of absolutes. It cost more for No. 2 heating oil this winter season than ever before, if inflation isn’t factored in.
The statewide average for No. 2 heating oil was $2.12 on Tuesday – 61 cents more than the commodity cost one year ago.
Maine’s State Planning Office put it this way: “This is the highest historical Maine statewide average cash price for heating oil unadjusted for inflation.”
The office surveys oil dealers across the state from the onset of the heating season in October through the end of March. Tuesday’s tally is the last for this heating season.
The end-of-the-season report also found that the statewide seasonal average worked out to $1.95 per gallon. That compares to last year’s seasonal average of $1.42.
The numbers mean that Maine consumers on average paid 53 cents – 37 percent – more per gallon than they did a year ago.
Roughly 80 percent of Maine’s homes rely on No. 2 oil for heat. The average household burns about 1,000 gallons during a heating season, state and industry group studies have determined.
Switching to kerosene won’t save people much, if anything. Kerosene also soared this heating season.
It ends the winter at $2.37 per gallon. That’s 59 cents more than people paid last year.
Propane prices are up, too. The gas cost an average of $2.07 per gallon, according to the SPO, up 33 cents when compared with last year.
The record heating fuel prices reflect spiking world energy prices. The SPO says the price for crude oil closed Monday at $54.06 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That’s down $2.64 on the week, but $16.94 higher than crude cost last year at this time.
Gasoline pump prices are at or near record levels as a result.
The nation’s Energy Information Agency said that the U.S. average price per gallon for all grades of gasoline reached $2.194 per gallon on Monday.
The New England average for all grades was $2.14; regular averaged $2.097 in the region.
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