It’ll Cost You $1302.75 To Fill Your Oil Tank Right Now

I checked Clifford Oil's (Lenox, MA) pricing today and they're charging $5.79 a gallon for heating oil right now. That's

If you have a standard 275-gallon tank and it's running on empty, that's $1,302.75 to fill it up (usable portion of tank is about 225 gallons).

And Clifford is actually on the lower end. The state's Department of Energy Resources says the average price in Massachusetts hit $6.15 a gallon this week. A year ago, it was $3.52. At that price, the same 275 gallons would have cost you about $968. That's more than $600 extra, and winter hasn't even started!

It's the same story at the pump. AAA has regular gas in the Pittsfield area at about $4.41 a gallon, up from around $3.15 a year ago. Diesel is near $6.37. AAA ties the spike to the war with Iran and its hit on global oil supplies.

That's why Beacon Hill is suddenly talking about the gas tax. Governor Maura Healey wants to suspend the state's 24-cent tax on gas and diesel for two months. Her Republican opponent, Mike Minogue, wants to suspend it any time gas tops $4 a gallon.

If it passes, someone filling a 15-gallon tank once a week would save about $3.60 each time, or roughly $30 over two months.

The problem is that does nothing for a lot of Berkshire homes' heating fuel. That break is for the pump. It wouldn't take a penny off your heating oil bill.

The gas tax holiday isn't a sure thing, either. Lawmakers have turned down the idea before, and House Speaker Ron Mariano called it "fiscally irresponsible" with no end to the war in sight.

If you heat with oil, it pays to shop around before you book a delivery. The state's latest survey found prices ranging from $5.70 to $6.70 a gallon.