Total Energy News – June 2026

Fuel prices have jumped sharply since the war with Iran began, and a new Vermont analysis puts numbers on the pain. Gasoline hit $4.47 a gallon by the end of May, up nearly 50% from $3.00 before the war, adding more than $75 a month for the average Vermont driver. Fuel oil rose $1.11 a gallon over the same period, so a 200-gallon delivery now costs more than $1,000, versus about $800 before. Across the state, higher gasoline, diesel, and fuel oil prices are estimated to have added $124 million in costs from March through May alone. Nationally, the average American household has spent an extra $190 on gasoline since the war started. For anyone heating with oil or driving a lot, these increases are a reminder that cutting fuel use — through better insulation and air sealing (blocking drafts and gaps that let heated or cooled air escape), or switching to a heat pump for heating and cooling — can matter more when fossil fuel prices are volatile.

Separately, federal tax credits for electric vehicles and other home clean-energy equipment were phased out last year under the Trump administration and the GOP, and EV sales have taken a hit as a result. That means buyers can no longer count on those federal credits to lower the upfront cost of an EV, though other incentives may still vary by state.

On the utility side, a 120-home pilot project in California is testing whether electric vehicles can double as backup batteries, supplying power to a home's appliances and even to the grid during outages or peak demand.