Heating Oil Costs Massachusetts Homeowners Far More Than a Year Ago

The first cold snap can bring an unpleasant reminder that heating your house isn’t cheap.

Bay Staters who heat with oil will likely be paying a lot more per delivery than they were a year ago.

This is what’s pushing prices up, and what you can do to help ease the sting.

Note: This is general information, not financial advice. Prices and program details are subject to change.

What One Delivery Costs You

Start with a small delivery of 100 gallons.

In a survey dated Sept. 28, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) found an average price of $6.08 a gallon.

So 100 gallons costs $608.

Last year’s average was $3.52.

The same delivery cost $352.

That’s $256 more for the same oil.

Put another way, $100 of oil a year ago now costs about $173.

The average price rose 73% in a year.

Dealers don’t all charge the same. One in 10 charged less than $5.65 a gallon.

One in 10 charged more than $6.66.

A $6.00 quote falls inside the range that 8 in 10 dealers charge.

Last year, even the high end was $4.02. That’s below this year’s low end of $5.65.

Your dealer’s quote will differ from the average. Compare it with DOER’s newest survey.

Close to the 2022 Record

The Sun Chronicle reported on Sept. 24 that the state’s average price was $6.15 a gallon.

That was approaching the $6.40 record set in spring 2022.

If your dealer charges the $6.08 average, you’d pay 32 cents a gallon less than the 2022 record.

A GasBuddy analyst told The Sun Chronicle that the Persian Gulf war and Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian refineries have helped squeeze diesel supplies and push prices up.

How Fast Prices Climbed Last Season

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) tracks the state’s heating oil price each week.

For the week of Oct. 6, 2025, it was $3.548 a gallon.

By the week of March 2, 2026, it was $4.433. A week later, it had jumped over a dollar, to $5.437.

The season’s last weekly reading, for the week of March 30, was $5.742.

That’s $2.19 a gallon more than the first reading, in under six months.

Say you got 100 gallons in October and 100 more in March. The March delivery would cost about $219 more.

The Estimate That Fell Short

DOER’s winter cost estimates put heating oil at $3.10 a gallon on average from November 2025 through March 2026.

That was down from the $3.43 estimate for the winter before.

Heating oil last winter actually averaged $4.09 a gallon in DOER’s survey. That’s 99 cents above the estimate.

If you budgeted from the $3.10 estimate, you may have run about a dollar a gallon short.

On 100 gallons, that’s about $99.

Forecasting weather and energy costs has limits, so the estimates don’t reflect current energy prices.

Propane Rose Much Less

Propane rose 5% in the DOER survey over the past year.

Heating oil rose 73%.

Propane now averages $3.71 a gallon, against $3.55 last year.

A year ago, the two fuels were 3 cents apart. Heating oil was $3.52 and propane was $3.55.

Now you’d pay $2.37 more a gallon for heating oil.

Even propane’s high end of $4.09 is below heating oil’s low end of $5.65.

About 20% of Massachusetts households heat with oil, DOER’s heating cost summary says.

That’s about 1 in 5 homes.

Only 4% heat with propane.

Ways to Lock In a Price

Heating oil contracts in Massachusetts come in several types, according to the state’s contracts guide.

A fixed-price contract sets one price a gallon for a set number of gallons.

With a cap-price contract, the dealer promises a top price a gallon for a set time.

Cap-price programs sometimes come with a setup fee.

If heating oil drops below the cap price, some contracts let you pay the lower price.

Others keep you at the cap.

Some dealers may want full payment up front to guarantee a fixed price.

Others may take partial payment.

Some companies give a discount for early payment, and some give older customers a discount.

Before you sign, ask whether you pre-purchase the gallons. Ask what the contract says about supply shortages.

A budget plan spreads your cost over monthly payments, based on your estimated use for the season.

The Sun Chronicle reports that the heating oil industry is encouraging customers to use these plans.

One more thing to know: Massachusetts doesn’t require heating oil dealers to be licensed.

Help Paying Less

Mass Save’s heat pump rebate pays $2,650 per ton, up to $8,500, if you replace a heating oil system.

Here, a ton measures a heat pump’s size. It’s the cooling capacity divided by 12,000 BTUs.

A 3-ton system would earn $7,950. A 4-ton system would hit the $8,500 cap.

Mass Save also offers eligible customers a no-cost home energy assessment. It takes no more than 2.5 hours, depending on your home’s size.

The HEAT Loan is Mass Save’s 0% financing.

It covers eligible upgrades such as weatherization and heat pumps, up to $25,000 total.

That limit applies over the lifetime of your energy-efficiency upgrades.

To get the HEAT Loan, you need to be a homeowner with an electric or gas account from a participating provider, such as Eversource or National Grid.

The state’s Home Energy Assistance programs help income-eligible households with winter heating bills, heating system repair or replacement, and weatherization.