By Jason Szep

BOSTON, July 23 (Reuters) - Massachusetts is creating a task force to help residents cope with rising prices of home heating oil and gasoline, Gov. Deval Patrick said on Wednesday, following a similar step by neighboring Vermont.

"To avoid a crisis this winter, we need to do everything we can do now to help our citizens protect themselves against rising costs," Patrick, a Democrat, said in a statement.

The announcement comes as record prices for home heating oil are rippling across America's northern regions, stoking demand for wood stoves and other alternatives, and forcing some heating oil companies out of business.

In New England, which has the nation's highest rates of heating oil use, homeowners are bracing for a near doubling in the cost to fill home oil storage tanks from last year.

Patrick's task force will consist of five cabinet secretaries and four lawmakers who will report within 60 days with a plan to help citizens cope with the high cost of energy expected this winter, the governor said.

The price of home heating oil in New England has jumped 87 percent since the winter of 2005-2006, Patrick said, noting that it would cost more than $3,750 to heat an average Massachusetts home with oil next winter, up from $1,800 two winters ago, with home heating oil trading at $4.71 a gallon.

The task force will review emergency service programs and consider ways to reduce energy use in Massachusetts homes, possibly through programs to better weatherize homes and provide other efficiencies, Patrick said.

It could also create incentives for car-pooling and use of public transportation, he added, while exploring "ways to mobilize community, volunteer, and philanthropic resources to address service needs."

Surging heating oil costs have spread alarm among heating oil distributors, mainly small and often family-run businesses. Many face the prospect of taking on unprecedented amounts of debt to buy fuel for winter. Three heating oil companies have failed since March in neighboring Connecticut.

Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas, a Republican, announced last month plans for a task force to help the state's residents deal with rising heating oil prices, in part by providing easy credit rates to help residents weatherize homes.

On July 9, the governors of Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island called on Washington to increase the region's home heating assistance to $1 billion from $252 million last winter.

Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry and Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe have proposed legislation to allow businesses hurt by rising heating fuel costs access to "economic-injury disaster loans" at subsidized rates until they can get back on their feet. (Editing by Marguerita Choy)

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