Fuel Oil & LP Gas Dealers NAICS 457210

Aug 23, 2025 - Hope for LIHEAP?

• The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services seeks to not only maintain funding for the Low Income Heat and Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) but to increase funding by $20 million to $4.045 billion, Fuel Oil News reports citing a late July update issued by the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA). “The Senate is clearly rejecting the President’s budget to zero out LIHEAP for FY 26,” the update said. The subcommittee’s bill includes language to ensure LIHEAP receives 90% of its funding at the start of the year so states have sufficient funds to start their programs and support needy households in the winter months. While the fate of the program remains uncertain – the full Senate still must vote and the House will propose its own funding level for LIHEAP – the association called the subcommittee’s action “an important step in protecting LIHEAP.”
• Propane distributors looking to fill the driver shortage gap while potentially improving safety will want to consider an overlooked category: women drivers, LP Gas reports. Women are underrepresented in trucking in general, with a 2024 survey by the Women in Trucking Association finding that an average of 9.5% of all professional truck drivers who hold CDLs (commercial driver’s licenses) are women. Women tend to be very risk averse, decreasing their likelihood of being involved in a collision. Indeed, a study conducted by Auburn University Harbert College of Business from 2010 to 2022 found that male truck drivers were 13.2% more likely to have a major unsafe driving violation. Strategies for propane dealers to attract more women drivers include simply encouraging more women to apply, offering flexible schedules and protective equipment that fit women, and on-the-job opportunities for professional development and apprenticeship programs.

• Sales of heat pumps saw continued growth at the end of 2024, outpacing sales of gas furnaces for home heating, The Wall Street Journal reported in January. While new heat pump shipments have been outpacing gas furnaces since 2022, heat pump sales may have gotten a boost recently due to fears that the fossil-fuel-friendly Trump administration could do away with tax breaks and other financial incentives meant to spur US consumers to electrify their homes. “Over 2024, there’s definitely a substantial increase in the sales of heat pumps relative to furnaces,” Russell Unger, a principal at RMI who works on building decarbonization, told WSJ. Unger says he’s hopeful the heat pump incentives will remain available in the coming years. Currently, homeowners can claim tax credits of up to $2,000 for electric heat pump installations, and additional state-administered rebates worth thousands more are slowly rolling out into the marketplace, according to WSJ.
• Employment by fuel oil dealers shrank 2.3% in June compared to a year ago, while average wages at gasoline stations and fuel dealers rose 2.5% over the same period to $18.56 per hour, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Sales and employment by fuel oil dealers are highly seasonal, peaking during the “winter heating season," (November through March) and bottoming out in the summer. Sales for fuel oil dealers in January 2025 were up 17.2% from January 2024, according to Census Bureau figures.