Traditional Energy Sources
Heating Oil
Most homeowners who heat with oil are concentrated in these 10 states: Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.
In addition, the region consumed 37 percent of all commercial heating oil in the country, the DOE reports. Many home fuel suppliers in the region are part of the New England Fuel Institute, an organization of more than 1,000 independent oil, biofuel, liquid propane and motor fuel companies nationwide.
Natural Gas and Electricity
Despite a national trend that shows electric heat gaining market share over natural gas heating, the demand for both fuels in the North East continues to grow. As a result, the area's oil consumption is declining, according to the Energy Information Administration.
The retirement or conversion of coal-burning generating plants has made electric power more attractive to many. Coal-burning facilities in New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Jersey have undergone conversion to natural gas or closure.
The two major electricity transmission services for the North East states, the Independent System Operator of New England and the New York Independent System Operator, have been providing mostly natural gas-fired electricity to the region since 2012.
Natural gas production in the North East exceeded consumption for the first time ever in 2015, due largely to extensive fracking operations centered in the Marcellus and Utica shale plays in Pennsylvania.
Other states, including New York, Vermont and Massachusetts, have banned fracking within their borders.