About half the homes in Maine burn heating oil. A quarter in Rhode Island do, 20% in Massachusetts and 15% in New York. The Energy Information Administration expects winter energy bills for those homes to rise 21% this year. That number sits in a Journal editorial on Tuesday, Oct. 20, and it's the one to carry to your budget.
The gap with gas is wide. Northeasterners who heat with gas pay $1,236 less on average this winter than those on oil, the EIA estimates. Electric rates are up too. Over six years, residential electric rates rose about 20% to 30% in most states. Maine's rose 92%, New York's 59%, Rhode Island's 45% and Massachusetts' 43%. Heating oil is diesel's twin. It comes out of the same part of the barrel, and the Iran war has pushed both up. The heating-oil future settled near $4.92 a gallon on Monday, Oct. 19, by the Tuesday paper's table.
The editorial board blames the region's energy policy. The region's leaders blame the Iran war. Both sides have a plan for the bill, and that's what matters at your kitchen table. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey plans to waive $100 million in electric-bill charges that fund green programs, at least this winter. Her Republican opponent says state charges make up a third of the bill. New York announced $200 energy rebates for joint filers earning up to $150,000. In Maine, net metering adds about $30 a month to bills, by the editorial's count. In Rhode Island, utility disconnections have doubled, per a recent report the paper cites.
A price you can see in October
This is a price story, not a new rule. It changes the size of a check you'll write several times between now and March. Prices you can see in October are easier to live with than surprises in January. On a fixed income, a fifth more for heat has to come out of some other line.
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Cash Flow (M5). The budget is the plan's first line of defense, and heat is the one bill you can't skip. A retiree on a pension or Social Security has a fixed number coming in. The oil dealer's number isn't fixed. The planning move is to close that gap on paper now, while there's still time to choose how.
The check this week is your heating line. Pull up last winter's oil deliveries, add 21%, and put the difference into your monthly plan. Call your dealer about a prebuy or a budget plan before the first cold snap, and look up your state's rebate. If the gap has to come out of the emergency fund, decide that now, in writing. If you'd like a second look at that line, that's what a review is for. The umbrella's easier to find while the ground is still dry.