Home heating oil prices in Connecticut rose sharply over the past year, driven in part by the ongoing war in Iran, raising costs for hundreds of thousands of households this winter
The spike hit low-income households enrolled in the state’s LIHEAP energy assistance program especially hard, cutting the amount of heating oil their benefits can buy
Connecticut relies more heavily on heating oil than nearly any other state, even as Trump moved to gut federal LIHEAP staffing and funding
Donald Trump’s Iran War has helped spike home heating oil prices in Connecticut by 70% over last year at this time, thereby ensuring that more than half a million Connecticut households will pay substantially more to heat their homes this winter than they did last year.
The problem is especially acute for the estimated 94,000 Connecticut households who have to rely on LIHEAP (the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program), who will see a 30% reduction or more in the amount of home heating oil that their limited energy dollars can buy this winter.
Those 94,000 LIHEAP households include 31,000 with elderly members, 13,000 with disabilities, and 9,000 with children under age 6. Basic LIHEAP benefit amounts range from $355 to $705 (55 to 130 gallons of oil at current prices), depending on income level and the vulnerability status of household residents.
The average Connecticut household uses 400 to 1,000 gallons of home heating oil – which is nothing more than diesel fuel dyed red – during the six-month heating season that runs from October 1 to April 1.
Trump’s Iran War and the ensuing closure of the Strait of Hormuz have helped spike home heating oil prices from $3.19 per gallon on September 8, 2025 to $5.43 per gallon on August 31, 2026 – a 70% increase of $2.24 per gallon.
And home heating oil prices are predicted to rise as the Iran War drags on and the home heating season – which begins around Halloween – spikes consumer demand for home heating oil.
35% of Connecticut’s 1.455 million households – about 510,000 homes – use oil home heating oil over the winter. Connecticut is the fourth-most oil-heat dependent state in America; nationally, only 3.5% of homes use heating oil (most heat with natural gas or electricity).
Despite Donald Trump firing the entire federal LIHEAP staff and seeking to eliminate all funding for the program, last week, Congress approved $86 million in LIHEAP for Connecticut, the same amount they approved last year. But that money won’t go very far with home heating oil prices going through the roof thanks to Trump’s Iran War.
By Lawrence Cook
