EIA residential propane, Rhode Island
Rhode Island propane prices: $3.76 a gallon
Latest EIA residential survey, week ending 30 March 2026, the final release of the 2025-26 heating season. Weekly updates resume in October; the wholesale benchmark below is live.
A small niche market at the end of the supply chain. Rhode Island Energy gas mains cover the urban core, so propane belongs to the rural western towns, the South County coast and Block Island, where a bobtail has to book a ferry.
Latest EIA residential propane price
Source: EIA State Heating Oil and Propane Program, Rhode Island residential series. Refreshed automatically every Tuesday in season; wholesale daily.
Rhode Island at a glance
Latest survey$3.76/gal
vs week before-3.5c
vs 4 weeks before+8.3c
vs same week last yearlevel
vs US ($2.67)41% above
Among 38 surveyed states34th cheapest
500-gal fill (400 usable)$1503
Week by week, 2025-26 season
Rhode Island against the US average
Every point is an EIA survey week. This season Rhode Island ran from a low of $3.51 (10 Nov) to a high of $3.79 (23 Mar), with the US average finishing at $2.67. Against the same week a year earlier it is level.
$3.51
Season low
10 November 2025
$3.79
Season high
23 March 2026
$3.76
Same week last year
31 March 2025, now level
$0.85
Wholesale today
Mont Belvieu spot, 15 September 2026, +17c 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 Rhode Island prices are heading.
What a fill costs in Rhode Island at $3.76
Tanks fill to 80% of their stated size to leave room for expansion, so a 500-gallon tank takes about 400 gallons. The right-hand column is the difference against the same fill at the US average.
| Tank | Usable gallons | Fill at $3.76 | vs US ($2.67) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 gal | 80 gal | $301 | +$87 |
| 250 gal | 200 gal | $751 | +$217 |
| 500 gal | 400 gal | $1503 | +$433 |
| 1000 gal | 800 gal | $3006 | +$866 |
A Rhode Island home heating on propane through a typical winter burns 1,000 to 1,500 gallons, so fuel alone runs about $3757 to $5636 at this price, 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.
Rhode Island against its Northeast neighbours
The whole Northeast band sits well above the interior states because of rail-to-truck distance from Gulf Coast and Marcellus supply. Inside the region, spreads reflect in-state storage, the residential mix between propane, heating oil and natural gas, and how fragmented the delivery routes are. Rhode Island lands near the middle of the New England pack.
| State | Price/gal | 500-gal fill | vs US ($2.67) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | $3.08 | $1233 | +15% |
| Maine | $3.52 | $1409 | +32% |
| Massachusetts | $3.65 | $1460 | +36% |
| Delaware | $3.73 | $1492 | +40% |
| Vermont | $3.73 | $1493 | +40% |
| New York | $3.75 | $1499 | +40% |
| Rhode Island | $3.76 | $1503 | +41% |
| New Hampshire | $3.78 | $1512 | +41% |
| New Jersey | $3.82 | $1528 | +43% |
| Connecticut | $4.12 | $1646 | +54% |
| Northeast average | $3.69 | $1476 | +38% |
States marked regional est. are not surveyed individually by EIA and carry their PADD regional figure. Full table on prices by state.
Why Rhode Island runs 41% over the national average
Expensive nationally, ordinary for New England. Inside its own region Rhode Island is unremarkable, sitting close to the Northeast average. The drivers are structural and tied to the geography of a very small state, not to a seasonal spike, and they will not normalise toward the national average on their own.
End of the supply chain, no in-state production.
Rhode Island makes no propane. Roughly nine in ten US gallons come from Gulf Coast gas processing and the Marcellus and Utica shale in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. RI supply arrives by rail to mid-Atlantic terminals in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, then transfers to in-state bulk storage, then bobtails to the tank. Every handoff on that long route is another margin layer, which is a big part of why the whole Northeast band sits above the interior states.
A small niche market in a natural-gas state.
The Rhode Island Energy gas network covers Providence, Warwick, Cranston, Pawtucket, East Providence and the near suburbs, where most of the state's residents live, leaving propane as a niche fuel for rural Western RI and the South County coast. Older Providence, Warwick and Pawtucket housing also skews heavily toward heating oil where gas service does not reach, which thins the propane customer pool again. Fixed delivery cost spreads across fewer gallons, and suppliers can hold margin a little higher because the alternative for many households is a sticky oil setup rather than a competing propane dealer next door.
Coastal and island delivery fragments the route map.
The most expensive segment is Block Island, where every bobtail must book ferry passage from Point Judith and winter sailings thin out. The South County beach towns and the seasonal second-home base add low-density, stop-start routes that cost more to serve per gallon than a dense suburban round. The island premium reflects real logistics cost, on the order of 40 to 80 cents a gallon above the mainland, not pricing opportunism.
Electrification policy caps new investment.
The 2021 Act on Climate sets enforceable emission cuts (45% below 1990 levels by 2030, net-zero by 2050), and the thermal sector is about a third of state emissions. Clean Heat RI incentivises heat-pump conversions off oil, propane and gas. The long-run direction is electrification, which discourages capital going into new propane infrastructure and keeps the supplier base structurally small.
Buying propane well in Rhode Island: the moves that decide the bill
In an expensive market the gap between a careless account and a well-run one runs to real money across a winter. Here is where it is won.
01
Verify both licences
Two offices share authority. The company needs a written LP-Gas authorisation from the RI Office of the State Fire Marshal, which enforces NFPA 58 at fire-marshal.ri.gov. The individual fitter needs a Department of Labor and Training credential under 260-RICR-30-15-2. Ask for both before any tank install or relocation.
02
Lock the summer rate
Wholesale bottoms in late spring, and most RI suppliers run pre-buy or cap-price enrolment from May 1 to August 31. On an 800 to 1,200 gallon burn, locking a summer rate over paying winter spot routinely saves a few hundred dollars. Ask for a cap-price contract, which keeps the saving if wholesale falls, and ask whether unused prepaid gallons roll forward.
03
Quote the local and national tiers
Rhode Island runs national carriers, New England regionals and small family operators. In the rural west and on the coast, supplier choice is thin and per-gallon spreads inside one town are common, so pull a written quote from a local independent and a national and compare. If you own your tank, say so up front, because it removes the switching penalty leased-tank customers face. Beyond the rated pair above, northern Rhode Island, the Blackstone Valley, the Providence core and Aquidneck Island are served by long-established operators whose public review counts are too small to rank fairly: Consumers Propane (Woonsocket, since 1919), T.H. Malloy & Sons (Cumberland, since 1935), Newport County Propane (Middletown, since 1959), Dupuis Energy (Pawtucket) and Santoro Oil (Providence). Treat those as a starting point for a call, not a ranking.
04
Check LIHEAP through RI DHS
LIHEAP helps propane households at or below 60% of RI State Median Income, with the FFY2026 heating benefit running to an $861 maximum and Winter Crisis up to $1,500, paid directly to your supplier. The heating window runs October 1 to April 15. Apply at dhs.ri.gov or through your local Community Action Program agency.
Rated by customers
Rhode Island propane dealers worth calling first
A short, hand-checked list with strong public review scores, spread across the state. Ratings were read from the platforms named in August 2026 and move over time; a high score is where to start, not a guarantee. Get three written quotes whoever you call.
South County coast / Westerly
Miner Discount Fuel
Westerly, Rhode Island
4.3173 reviews, Birdeye
Westerly independent running automatic propane and heating-oil delivery across South County and the Rhode Island shoreline. The largest public review base of any RI propane operator we found, and consistently cited for pricing.
See the reviews ›East Bay / Sakonnet / Newport County
Phil's Propane
Tiverton, Rhode Island
4.380 reviews, Birdeye
Family operator since 1952 with delivery, installs and 24/7 emergency service across Tiverton, Little Compton, Portsmouth and the East Bay towns.
See the reviews ›Rhode Island propane, the questions people ask
Does this page list every licensed propane dealer in Rhode Island?
No, and we will not pretend otherwise. Rhode Island has no single public, 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. The state regulates the trade in two pieces. The Rhode Island Office of the State Fire Marshal enforces the LP-Gas Code (NFPA 58, adopted under the RI Fire Code) and requires any firm storing, handling or dispensing propane to hold a written authorisation, but that authorisation list is not published as a browsable consumer lookup. Separately, the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training licenses the individual pipefitters and propane-gas-service technicians who install and service systems. What we offer instead is a short, hand-checked shortlist of well-reviewed operators, an honest rating-free call-list for the rest of the state, and the ZIP finder at /propane-prices-near-me/ plus the supplier directory at /supplier/ to find companies serving your exact address.
How do I check that a Rhode Island propane company or fitter is licensed?
Two offices share authority, so verify both. First, any company storing or dispensing propane in Rhode Island must hold a written LP-Gas authorisation from the Rhode Island Office of the State Fire Marshal, which enforces NFPA 58 (the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Code) by reference under the RI Fire Code; forms and contact details are at fire-marshal.ri.gov, and tank installs above 4,000 gallons aggregate water capacity plus all rooftop ASME container installs require pre-installation review by the Authority Having Jurisdiction. Second, the individual doing gas piping or appliance work needs a credential from the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training under 260-RICR-30-15-2 (the Bureau of Pipefitters, Refrigeration Technicians, Sprinklerfitters, Sheet Metal Workers and Oil Heat Contractors); the Propane Gas Service Journeyperson (PJF/Propane) credential requires 220 hours of approved training and the holder must work under a licensed Pipefitter Master. The Rhode Island State Building Code Commission (DBR) adopts the fuel-gas code that governs the piping and appliance install itself. Ask a supplier for the firm's State Fire Marshal authorisation and the fitter's DLT licence before you sign for any tank install or relocation.
Am I eligible for LIHEAP heating assistance in Rhode Island, and how much is it?
Rhode Island's Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is administered by the Rhode Island Department of Human Services (DHS) and applications are taken through local Community Action Program (CAP) agencies. A household is income-eligible when gross income is at or below 60% of Rhode Island State Median Income for its size, and households already receiving SNAP, SSI or RI Works are generally categorically eligible. Propane-heated homes qualify alongside oil, natural-gas, electric and wood customers, and the primary heating benefit can be paid directly to your propane supplier. For federal fiscal year 2026 the heating benefit ran from a $50 minimum to an $861 maximum, with Winter Crisis assistance up to $1,500 for households facing an immediate loss of heat, processed in roughly 24 to 48 hours. The heating-season application window runs from October 1 to April 15, so apply early rather than waiting for a January crisis. Apply at dhs.ri.gov under Energy Assistance Programs or through your local CAP agency (TriCounty, East Bay CAP, Comprehensive Community Action Program, Westbay and West Elmwood). The George Wiley Center in Pawtucket runs additional utility advocacy under the Henry Shelton Act if you also carry utility back-balances.
When is the cheapest time to fill a propane tank in Rhode Island?
Late spring through midsummer, roughly May through August. Wholesale propane bottoms in that window when refinery output is high and residential heating demand is near zero, and most Rhode Island suppliers run pre-buy or cap-price enrolment between May 1 and August 31. A pre-buy locks a per-gallon rate for the coming season; a cap-price sets a ceiling but lets you benefit if wholesale falls. The tactical play is to arrive at winter with a tank topped to 75 to 80% at September shoulder pricing and avoid filling in the December-to-February peak, when RI spot rates run well above the summer low. On a typical 800 to 1,200 gallon annual burn, summer pre-buy versus winter spot routinely saves a few hundred dollars a year. Read the contract: ask whether it is per-gallon or capped, and whether unused prepaid gallons roll forward. The Propane Gas Association of New England (PGANE), which covers Rhode Island and the rest of the six-state region, publishes general guidance on contract types at pgane.org.
How does propane delivery work for Block Island residents?
Block Island propane is its own logistics problem. The island sits roughly 12 miles off the South County coast and is reached only by the Block Island Ferry from Galilee, Point Judith, with a thinner sailing schedule from November through April. There is no undersea gas line and no on-island production, so every bobtail delivery has to book a ferry crossing. Practical implications: island propane carries a real delivery premium over the mainland RI average, automatic-fill scheduling is less flexible, and a winter-storm runout can mean waiting days for the next boat. If you own on Block Island, oversize the tank (500 gallons minimum, 1,000 preferable), never let it drop below 30%, and schedule fills well before peak season. Summer pre-buy and a keep-full contract are the only reliable levers, and cap protection matters most exactly when winter ferry disruptions hit. Expect to pay meaningfully above the statewide $3.76 EIA average, on the order of 40 to 80 cents a gallon more depending on supplier and delivery window.
Where in Rhode Island is propane the main heating fuel?
The propane belt is rural Western Rhode Island and the South County coast. Foster, Glocester, Burrillville, Scituate, West Greenwich, Exeter, Charlestown, Hopkinton and Richmond are all natural-gas-thin: the Rhode Island Energy distribution network reaches the urban core (Providence, Warwick, Cranston, Pawtucket, East Providence) and the near suburbs but does not extend into the low-density western towns, so households there run on propane, heating oil or electric resistance. Block Island and the South County beach communities (Narragansett, Charlestown, Westerly, Watch Hill) also lean propane-heavy, partly for seasonal-home convenience and partly for cooking, grill and standby-generator load. If you live in the rural west or on the coast, expect to pay close to the EIA $3.76 statewide average; if you are inside the I-95 corridor with only a propane appliance load alongside natural-gas central heat, you have a stronger negotiating position because suppliers compete harder for you.
How does the Rhode Island Act on Climate affect propane customers?
Rhode Island's 2021 Act on Climate sets enforceable greenhouse-gas targets: 45% below 1990 levels by 2030, 80% by 2040, and net-zero by 2050. Heating and cooling are roughly a third of state emissions, so propane-heated homes fall inside the policy's scope. The state runs Clean Heat RI through the Office of Energy Resources, an incentive program for households switching from oil, propane or natural gas to cold-climate heat pumps. There is no mandate today forcing anyone off propane, but the direction is set and the incentives are growing. If your propane furnace or boiler is near end of life, price the heat-pump path alongside a like-for-like replacement before you commit. At Rhode Island rates the operating-cost case for a high-efficiency heat pump is stronger here than it is in the cheapest-propane states of the Midwest and Plains.
Is Rhode Island really one of the most expensive propane states?
Nationally, yes. Rhode Island residential propane averages $3.76 a gallon in the latest EIA State Heating Oil and Propane Program reading, which is 41% above the $2.67 national mark and puts the state firmly in the pricier tier of the country. Within its own region the picture is more ordinary: RI sits 2% above the Northeast regional average of $3.69, around the middle of the New England pack. The structural reasons are distance from Gulf Coast and Marcellus production, a small niche customer base in a mostly natural-gas-served state, and fragmented coastal and island delivery routes. Those do not normalise toward the national average without a change in regional infrastructure.
Keep reading
All Rhode Island dealers
Rhode Island 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.
Propane vs heating oil
Per-BTU economics and conversion costs for older Rhode Island homes.
500-gallon tank cost
Buy, install and refill costs for the most common residential tank size.