Prices for heating fuels in Maine have come down over the past few weeks.
Lisa Smith with the Governor’s Energy Office says, since late February, the statewide average price of heating oil has dropped 4 cents a gallon to $2.26. Kerosene is also down 4 cents to $2.79 a gallon, and the statewide average price of propane is down a nickel to $2.55.
Smith says the price drops follow an historical trend and reflect supply and demand.
“They creep up from October; they kind of peak in late February, the peak part of the winter; and then prices start to decline as demand starts to decline,” she says.
Smith says, despite the proliferation of heating options available to Mainers, Maine is still the most heating oil dependent state in the country. She says about 65 of Maine households rely on heating oil as their primary fuel source, which means they remain more vulnerable to volatile oil prices than consumers in other states.
