King said he expects the cost to fill a typical family’s heating oil storage tank in Maine could top $1,000 this winter, double last year’s cost, following a recent spike in heating oil prices above $4 a gallon. Other estimates put the cost at about $800, up 60 percent from last year. “Most people are going to have to fill up that tank six times,” said King. “How is somebody who is making $350 or $400 a week going to pay to fill up the tank to keep warm?” New England pays more for energy than the rest of the nation because of its reliance on fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas extracted from distant states and countries.
The Massachusetts Oilheat Council estimates that heating oil prices in New England are now around $4.65 a gallon, up 116 percent since 2005. It expects prices to keep rising as the market tracks record-high crude oil prices. Many homeowners are searching for alternatives to oil. Sales of wood-burning stoves — in use since before American independence from Britain — are brisk, even as customers don shorts and bask in summer weather outside. “Demand for wood pellet stoves has tripled. We’re pre-sold out until probably the New Year,” said Tim Bushey, manager at Frost & Flame in Gorham, Maine, which sells wood stoves and stoves that burn wood pellets. More
Also See: Heating oil prices at unprecedented levels