OT: Connecticut Heating Oil Prices

[Jackalope]

Dealing with heating oil companies has been the bane of my existence the past few years. Recently I found the states home heating oil price tracker in a fairly usable form. In case this will help anybody, the data can be found at this link http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?a=4405&Q=481616&deepNav_GID=2121
Look at the second tab of the regional excel spreadsheet.

 

[TDiNozzo]

Thanks. It's accurate for what I paid in Fairfield 2 months ago, but I paid 10 cents less last week in New London than listed... But it's nice to see where it's heading if you need it soon and have room to beat a price hike...I've been keeping a spread sheet on what I pay for about 8 years now.. It's nice to be at 2008 prices again...

 

[Stinger92860]

Thank you! I needed this. The only way to receive competitive pricing is too switch providers every year.

 

[CTFIRERETIRED]

If I may, let me add this. I have been paying about 3.25 for oil. This website may be of great interest to all of you, if you are intending to purchase oil, in the near future. Both my wife and I have researched this site, and have come to the conclusion that we may bail out of purchasing oil from our current oil company, and go with this. The page I have listed are the prices. I would suggest you go to their home page, and check on them yourself. Hope this helps you all.

http://www.cashheatingoil.com/oilpricesinct

 

[Sonny44]

Dealing with heating oil companies has been the bane of my existence the past few years. Recently I found the states home heating oil price tracker in a fairly usable form. In case this will help anybody, the data can be found at this link http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?a=4405&Q=481616&deepNav_GID=2121
Look at the second tab of the regional excel spreadsheet.

I would like to see a comparison of local company's prices like they have for electric rates. Do you know of one?

 

[Jackalope]

I would like to see a comparison of local company's prices like they have for electric rates. Do you know of one?

The Electric Rates comparisons prepared by the state electric companies are done as part of the State deregulations a few years ago. So far as I know, heating oil is considered a competitive supply / demand business with no regulations. It is also difficult to make apples to apples comparisons due to daily volatility, type of contract (if any), and the inclusion of burner service contract or not. Additionally, the heating oil companies don't generally publish their prices publically -- you have to call them to get their current price. Net, It is difficult to get an apple to apple comparison from dealer to dealer. The CT data linked above is about the best I have seen at tracking regional prices. This website lays out oil prices by vendor, but I don't think it is very accurate based on my expierince: http://www.newenglandoil.com/conn.htm

How to best minimize heating oil cost? That is more complicated and takes a lot more work!

 

[Sonny44]

The Electric Rates comparisons prepared by the state electric companies are done as part of the State deregulations a few years ago. So far as I know, heating oil is considered a competitive supply / demand business with no regulations. It is also difficult to make apples to apples comparisons due to daily volatility, type of contract (if any), and the inclusion of burner service contract or not. Additionally, the heating oil companies don't generally publish their prices publically -- you have to call them to get their current price. Net, It is difficult to get an apple to apple comparison from dealer to dealer. The CT data linked above is about the best I have seen at tracking regional prices. This website lays out oil prices by vendor, but I don't think it is very accurate based on my expierince: http://www.newenglandoil.com/conn.htm

How to best minimize heating oil cost? That is more complicated and takes a lot more work!

Thaanks O great horned Lapine.

 

[ctfjr]

I have been in the selling end of materials to oil companies for a very long time. The best way I have found to get 'fair' consistent pricing is to negotiate a price based on 'so many cents' over harbor price. Oil companies around here buy their oil at some harbor terminal and have it trucked in to their storage facilities. These rates are published so its easy to verify that you are getting what you signed up for. If you are a small user (less than 700 gallons) you will have little leverage. The more the gallons dropped per delivery, the more attractive the customer is.

Preseason buys are a way to lock in your price but anyone who did that this year probably got burned as pricing seems to be continuing to drop.

 

[CCinCT]

Try this site -

http://newenglandoil.com/conn.htm

 

[Jackalope]

I have been in the selling end of materials to oil companies for a very long time. The best way I have found to get 'fair' consistent pricing is to negotiate a price based on 'so many cents' over harbor price. Oil companies around here buy their oil at some harbor terminal and have it trucked in to their storage facilities. These rates are published so its easy to verify that you are getting what you signed up for. If you are a small user (less than 700 gallons) you will have little leverage. The more the gallons dropped per delivery, the more attractive the customer is.

Preseason buys are a way to lock in your price but anyone who did that this year probably got burned as pricing seems to be continuing to drop.

ctfjr - I am with you on the cents above harbor or barge price. The best way an individual homeowner can do that is to participate or coordinate a buy via a group (church, homeowners association, etc). The key to making that work is having a point person handle all the negotiations and follow-ups. This could also be a fund raising opportunity if done via a non-profit. Many oil companies will give a finder's fee for new accounts. If a church group organizes the negotiations the finders fee can go as a donation to the church, be a potential tax deduction to the oil company, and provide a very good oil price to the group participants. Win/Win/Win all around.

 

[huskyrob1]

ctfjr - I am with you on the cents above harbor or barge price. The best way an individual homeowner can do that is to participate or coordinate a buy via a group (church, homeowners association, etc). The key to making that work is having a point person handle all the negotiations and follow-ups. This could also be a fund raising opportunity if done via a non-profit. Many oil companies will give a finder's fee for new accounts. If a church group organizes the negotiations the finders fee can go as a donation to the church, be a potential tax deduction to the oil company, and provide a very good oil price to the group participants. Win/Win/Win all around.

Oil's going down to between 40 and 50 dollars/barrel, hit $57 this morning.

 

[EEich]

Try this site:
http://oilco-op.com/

 

[ctfjr]

Oil's going down to between 40 and 50 dollars/barrel, hit $57 this morning.

LOL - you may be right huskrob1 but right now I'm not taking all my 401K $$$ & going short on oil.

 

[huskyrob1]

LOL - you may be right huskrob1 but right now I'm not taking all my 401K $$$ & going short on oil.

God no, not saying you should. At this point you should be waiting to buy. I actually nibbled a little bit this morning and went long in case I'm wrong, but like I said the bottom should be just under $50. Don't get fooled by a small pop up on Monday.

 

[WillB4]

I have pre-buying oil for the past 15 years. The invite to pre buy is sent usually in July. In those years I have been 'hurt' only 3 times including this year. I pre bought this year at $3.59. But I have saved a bunch of dollars by buying in the summer. It's the electric that you have to watch, that sucker has risen from 2.2K to 3.7K in ten years. Here is a site for electric comparison, http://www.energizect.com/compare-energy-suppliers.