Heating oil prices in Connecticut have nearly doubled in two years, with the sharpest jump coming after the war in Iran began
More than a third of Connecticut households heat with oil, and rural towns are the most exposed
Connecticut’s congressional delegation has called for more federal heating aid and an end to the war
Home heating oil cost Connecticut households an average of $5.88 per gallon in late September, nearly double the $3 statewide average two years earlier, according to state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection figures.
Connecticut ranks fourth in the nation in reliance on home heating oil, behind Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, according to the Connecticut Data Collaborative. About 35% of the state’s households use it.
On Sept. 30, 2024, about five weeks before that year’s presidential election, heating oil averaged $3 per gallon statewide. A year later, it had risen to $3.23.
But the steep climb came after Trump’s war in Iran began February 28. On February 23, heating oil averaged $4.04 per gallon. By March 2, days after the war started, it had reached $4.30, and by March 9 it had jumped to $5.11. Prices have stayed elevated since. By September 28, 2026, the average reached $5.88, with some dealers charging as much as $6.30.
At current prices, the average oil-heated household is on track to pay an additional $1,540 this winter, CT Insider reported.
“Do I pay my heating bill? Do I buy groceries? Do I pay rent? Do I pay my electric bill? These are not theoretical questions,” Christopher McCluskey, a senior vice president at the Community Renewal Team, told the Hartford Courant. “These are decisions that hardworking families across Connecticut have to consider every single day.”
Rural homes are far more likely to heat with oil because fewer of them have access to natural gas lines. Durham has the largest share of oil-heated households in the state, according to CT Insider, and the Connecticut Data Collaborative found oil use reaches as high as 81% in towns such as Barkhamsted, Sterling, and Haddam.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal called on Congress to approve at least $7 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, which helps low-income households pay for heating fuel, the Courant reported.
Blumenthal and U.S. Reps. Joe Courtney and Rosa DeLauro also joined a group of Northeast lawmakers led by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Massachusetts Reps. Stephen Lynch and Lori Trahan in urging the U.S. Department of Energy to support an immediate end to the war and prioritize lowering energy costs this winter.
Oil prices kept rising Oct. 8. Brent crude rose more than 5% in early trading and U.S. crude rose almost 5% as Trump weighed whether to resume large-scale military operations against Iran, NBC News reported. No decision had been made, according to NBC.
