MAINE PUBLIC • July 21, 2022
Heating oil prices rose nine times faster than the cost of food over the past year. In fact, the price of Number 2 fuel oil rose 98.5 percent between June 2021 and June 2022, according to federal data. That is more than any other major commodity tracked by the Consumer Price Index and is 10 times higher than overall inflation for all products. So while it's only July, homeowners and public officials in Maine are bracing for a painful – and potentially dangerous – winter heating season in a state with the nation's highest reliance on heating oil.