Hawaii propane, no state survey
Hawaii propane prices: no published state average
For reference, the US average is $2.73 a gallon. EIA residential survey for the week ending 26 October 2026. Updated every Wednesday through March.
EIA does not survey Hawaii and publishes no West Coast regional series, and we know of no other published Hawaii average, so this page shows no Hawaii figure. The US average is given for reference only; Hawaii quotes can sit well above or below it. The chart below shows the US series for direction.
Every gallon arrives by tanker and then moves again by barge between the islands, into a market with no winter heating season to spread the cost across. Urban Oahu mostly burns piped Hawaii Gas synthetic natural gas; everywhere else, a truck fills a tank outside the house.
What do you pay in Hawaii?
Compare it with your neighbours in 30 seconds.
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Used only for your comparison and the anonymous local figure. Never sent to a propane company.
Latest EIA residential propane price
Source: EIA State Heating Oil and Propane Program, US residential series. Refreshed automatically every Wednesday in season; wholesale daily.
Hawaii at a glance
Hawaii surveyNone published
US average (EIA)$2.73/gal
500-gal fill at US average$1092
Week by week, 2026-27 season
US average, the nearest published series to Hawaii
Every point is an EIA survey week. This season the series ran from a low of $2.59 (5 Oct) to a high of $2.73 (26 Oct). Against the same week a year earlier it is +12%.
$2.59
Season low
5 October 2026
$2.73
Season high
26 October 2026
$2.43
Same week last year
27 October 2025, now +12%
$1.20
Wholesale today
Mont Belvieu spot, 27 October 2026, +31c vs a month ago
Source: EIA State Heating Oil and Propane Program, residential propane, full-service delivery, published October to March. Wholesale is the Mont Belvieu, TX spot price; retail usually follows it by four to eight weeks, which makes it the best off-season signal of where Hawaii prices are heading.
What a fill costs at the US average of $2.73
Tanks fill to 80% of their stated size to leave room for expansion, so a 500-gallon tank takes about 400 gallons. With no Hawaii figure published, these are the same fills at the US average, a reference point and not a Hawaii price: multiply the usable gallons by the price on your own quote.
| Tank | Usable gallons | Fill at $2.73 | vs US ($2.73) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 gal | 80 gal | $218 | $0 |
| 250 gal | 200 gal | $546 | $0 |
| 500 gal | 400 gal | $1092 | $0 |
| 1000 gal | 800 gal | $2184 | $0 |
For a winter's fuel, multiply the gallons on last winter's delivery tickets by the price: every 100 gallons costs about $273 at the US average, before tank rent or a service plan. The average is a benchmark, not a quote: enter your ZIP to ask up to three local dealers what they would charge you.
Hawaii against its West neighbours
Hawaii and Alaska are the only two states with no rail or pipeline link to mainland propane. EIA publishes residential figures for pipeline-fed interior states like New Mexico, Wyoming and Idaho, but surveys no West Coast state, Hawaii included, so no agency publishes a Hawaii average and the table lists Hawaii without one. For reference, the US average is $2.73 a gallon.
| State | Price/gal | 500-gal fill | vs US ($2.73) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montana | $2.18 | $872 | -20% |
| Colorado | $2.37 | $949 | -13% |
| Wyoming (regional est.) | $2.38 | $951 | -13% |
| Utah | $2.46 | $986 | -10% |
| Idaho | $2.69 | $1074 | -2% |
| New Mexico (regional est.) | $3.03 | $1211 | +11% |
| Alaska | No published state average | ||
| Arizona | No published state average | ||
| California | No published state average | ||
| Hawaii | No published state average | ||
| Nevada | No published state average | ||
| Oregon | No published state average | ||
| Washington | No published state average | ||
| West average | $2.52 | $1008 | -8% |
States marked regional est. are not surveyed individually by EIA and carry their PADD regional figure. States with no published average (EIA surveys no West Coast state and has no West Coast regional series) are listed without a figure and left out of the West average. Full table on prices by state.
What drives Hawaii propane prices
The drivers are geographic and logistical, not seasonal, and they will not ease without a shift in how propane reaches and moves between the islands.
Import-only supply.
Hawaii has no propane production, no propane-yielding refinery capacity in commercial quantity, and no rail or pipeline link to the mainland. Roughly 90% of US propane is a by-product of natural-gas processing in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and the Appalachian shale, thousands of miles away. Every Hawaii gallon arrives by tanker into Honolulu, Hilo or Kahului, with shipping, port handling and storage priced in before any retail markup.
Inter-island freight.
After tanker discharge on Oahu, propane is barged to terminals on Maui, Kauai, the Big Island, Molokai and Lanai. That second leg is one of the largest line items separating a Honolulu quote from a neighbor-island quote, and off-grid neighbor-island addresses routinely pay well above Oahu retail for the identical product. It is why the Big Island shows the widest intra-state spread, with Kona and Hilo supplied separately.
No heating season to spread fixed costs.
Hawaii has effectively zero winter heating load. Demand is water heating, cooking and the occasional generator, so suppliers cannot amortise tanker scheduling, storage and barge freight across a fourth-quarter-to-first-quarter volume spike the way Northeast and Midwest dealers do. Per-gallon overhead therefore stays high all year rather than falling on peak-season throughput.
A small, self-selected customer base.
With no cold-weather efficiency gap to close, most Hawaii homes heat water with electricity, so the propane base is a self-selected minority of gas-cooking households, restaurants, hotels, food trucks and off-grid neighbor-island homes. Low total volume keeps per-customer infrastructure and delivery overhead high, and the piped SNG main on urban Oahu removes the densest potential LPG customers from the bulk-delivery pool entirely.
Buying propane well in Hawaii: the moves that change the bill
On the neighbor islands especially, the gap between a careless account and a well-run one is real money over a year. Here is where it is won.
01
Start with a real island operator
Hawaii publishes no browsable list of retail propane sellers, so there is no state registry to work from and no invented ratings here. These are real operators, each linked to its own public review page, read from their own sites and public listings in August 2026. Oahu: Propane Man Hawaii, independent since 1982 with drive-thru cylinder refill in Kalihi and Waipahu, on (808) 841-3033, and Hawaii Gas, the state's only franchised gas utility since 1904. Maui, Molokai and Lanai: Central Maui Propane in Kahului, family-owned since 2014, on (808) 357-7875, and Maui Gas Service (AmeriGas) in Wailuku, covering Molokai and Lanai City too. Hawaii Island: Hilo Propane on the east side, on (808) 961-0089, and Hawaii Gas Kona on the west. Kauai: Hawaii Gas Lihue on (808) 245-3301, and Hardware Hawaii in Koloa for cylinder refill. A starting point for a first call, not a ranking.
02
Confirm the county permits
There is no statewide propane-dealer licence lookup in Hawaii. Verification is done at the county level: every operator must hold LP-gas storage and handling permits from its county fire department under NFPA 58, adopted through the Hawaii State Fire Council. Ask which county permits a supplier holds, and treat Pacific Propane Gas Association or NPGA membership as a positive signal, not a licence.
03
Fill before hurricane season peaks
Hawaii has no winter pre-buy window, so timing is about availability, not a seasonal wholesale low. The central-Pacific hurricane season runs June to November, and a forecast track can exhaust local delivery capacity for a day or more. If your tank is below half in early summer, top it up on a calm week rather than waiting for a storm warning, when the price is unchanged but trucks are booked out.
04
Quote the tiers and unbundle freight
Hawaii runs a two-tier LPG market: the national carrier (AmeriGas, trading as Oahu Gas Service and Maui Gas Service) and Hawaii Gas alongside a few island independents. Pull a written quote from each and insist it itemises the per-gallon price, delivery fee, tank rental if any, and inter-island freight. On a neighbor island the freight line can hide inside an opaque service charge, and spreads of 50 cents a gallon or more against an Oahu address are common.
05
Check H-HEAP eligibility
The Hawaii Home Energy Assistance Program (H-HEAP), run by DHS-BESSD, helps households at or below 150% of the Federal Poverty Level, about $41,941 a year for one person and $80,656 for a family of four in 2026. Energy Crisis Intervention is taken year-round with a shutoff notice; the one-time Energy Credit window runs in June. Apply through your island's Community Action agency, and see humanservices.hawaii.gov/bessd/liheap.
Hawaii propane, the questions people ask
Does this page list every licensed propane dealer in Hawaii?
No, and we will not pretend otherwise. Hawaii publishes no single consumer-facing per-dealer LP-gas registry we can republish the way Wisconsin, Texas or Florida do, so this page carries no full state dealer directory and no invented ratings. Hawaii regulates the trade in pieces: the county fire departments (Honolulu, Hawaii County, Maui, Kauai) issue LP-gas storage and handling permits and enforce NFPA 58, the LP-Gas Code, adopted through the State Fire Council, while the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) handles commercial registration and its Division of Consumer Advocacy oversees the regulated Hawaii Gas utility rather than bottled-propane retailers. None of them publishes a browsable list of retail propane sellers. What we offer instead is a hand-checked, island-by-island list of real operators with links to their own public review pages, plus the ZIP finder at /propane-prices-near-me/ and the supplier directory at /supplier/ to match a company to your address.
How do I check that a Hawaii propane dealer is properly permitted?
Because there is no statewide consumer license lookup for LP-gas retailers, verification in Hawaii is done at the county level. Any operator that stores, transports and dispenses propane must hold LP-gas permits from the fire department in the county where it operates, issued under NFPA 58 as adopted by the Hawaii State Fire Council. On Hawaii Island, for example, a permit is required for LPG tank installations of 125 gallons or more. Ask a supplier which county permits it holds and confirm with that county fire department's permit office if an installation looks non-compliant. Two further signals: membership in the Pacific Propane Gas Association (the regional trade body covering Hawaii, Alaska, Oregon and Washington) or the National Propane Gas Association is a positive marker, not a license, and the DCCA business registration search confirms a company is a registered Hawaii entity. Never accept a fill from an operator that cannot name its county permits.
Am I eligible for H-HEAP energy assistance in Hawaii?
H-HEAP, the Hawaii Home Energy Assistance Program (formerly LIHEAP), is the state's federally funded energy-assistance scheme, administered by the Department of Human Services, Benefit, Employment and Support Services Division (BESSD) and delivered through a Community Action agency on each island rather than a central state office. Core income eligibility is a household at or below 150% of the Federal Poverty Level, and Hawaii uses its own higher poverty guideline, so for the 2026 program year that is roughly $41,941 a year for a single-person household and about $80,656 for a household of four. Households already receiving SNAP, SSI or TANF are generally categorically eligible. The program has two benefits: Energy Crisis Intervention (ECI), taken year-round for a household facing disconnection with a shutoff notice, and Energy Credit (EC), a one-time bill credit with a short application window that runs in June each year. Because Hawaii has effectively no winter heating load, the program weights toward electricity and water-heating costs rather than space heat. Apply through your island's Community Action agency: Honolulu Community Action Program on Oahu, Maui Economic Opportunity for Maui, Molokai and Lanai, Kauai Economic Opportunity on Kauai, and the Hawaii County Economic Opportunity Council on the Big Island.
What is the difference between Hawaii Gas SNG and bottled propane?
They are two different products sold under the same utility brand, and the distinction decides which price model applies to you. Hawaii Gas manufactures synthetic natural gas (SNG) at its plant at Campbell Industrial Park on Oahu by reforming naphtha, an oil-refining by-product, into a methane-rich gas, and pipes it through roughly 1,000 miles of underground main to utility customers between Kapolei and Hawaii Kai. SNG is billed as a regulated utility tariff set by the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission, not by the gallon. Separately, Hawaii Gas and independent dealers deliver liquefied petroleum gas (LPG, propane) in 20-lb cylinders, 100 to 120 gallon residential tanks and larger bulk tanks to off-main Oahu addresses and every neighbor island. That LPG side is unregulated retail, quoted in dollars per gallon, and is the fuel this page covers. If your gas comes from a pipe in the ground in urban Oahu you are almost certainly on SNG; if a truck refills a tank outside your home, you are an LPG customer.
How much propane does a typical Hawaii household actually use?
Far less than a mainland home. Hawaii has no winter heating season, so residential propane goes to water heating, which is the dominant load, then cooking, and occasionally a backup generator for hurricane preparedness. No agency publishes Hawaii household propane use, so the number to plan with is your own: add up the gallons on a year of delivery tickets, or read the gauge at each delivery. A home that runs only a propane range uses far less than one with a propane water heater, and off-grid households on the Big Island, Molokai or Lanai running a propane generator, refrigerator and water heater use the most. Mainland annual-cost figures assume a heating season Hawaii does not have, so do not compare a Hawaii bill with them.
Why is Hawaii propane so expensive?
Three structural reasons, none of them seasonal. First, import-only supply: Hawaii has no propane production, no propane-yielding refinery capacity and no rail or pipeline link to the mainland, so every gallon arrives by tanker from US Gulf Coast or West Coast ports into Honolulu, Hilo or Kahului, with shipping, port handling and storage baked in before any retail markup. Second, inter-island freight: after tanker discharge on Oahu, propane is barged to Maui, Kauai, the Big Island, Molokai and Lanai, and that leg is one of the largest line items separating a Honolulu quote from a neighbor-island quote. Off-grid neighbor-island addresses routinely pay well above Oahu retail for the same product. Third, no heating-season volume to spread fixed costs across: with demand limited to water heating, cooking and the odd generator, suppliers cannot amortise tanker scheduling and storage over a winter spike the way Northeast and Midwest dealers do, so per-gallon overhead stays high all year. Alaska is the only other state with the same import-only economics.
When is the worst time to fill a propane tank in Hawaii?
During a hurricane watch or warning. The single biggest demand spike for Hawaii propane is preparedness refilling in the June to November central-Pacific hurricane season, when a forecast track toward the islands sends households to top up generators and cooking fuel at once. Suppliers can run out of bobtail delivery capacity for 24 to 72 hours when a storm threatens, so tanks sit unfilled even though the per-gallon price has not moved. The fix is calm-weather timing: if your tank is below half in early hurricane season, top it up on an ordinary week. Waiting for the storm warning does not cost you more per gallon, it costs you availability when you need it most.
Keep reading
All Hawaii dealers
Hawaii propane dealers by city and ZIP.
Dealers near you
Enter a ZIP to see the closest dealers and ask up to three for a price.
Propane prices today
The daily wholesale benchmark and the live state summer surveys.
Prices by state
All 50 states side by side, with regional context.
What a fill costs
Tank sizes, the 80% rule and the national refill guide.
How to pay less
Pre-buy timing, switching, owned versus leased tanks.
Alaska propane price
The only other state with Hawaii-comparable import-only propane economics.
California propane price
The closest mainland West-region peer with limited refining capacity.
How long a tank lasts
Water-heating and cooking burn rates, the two Hawaii residential loads.