EIA residential propane, Vermont
Vermont propane prices: $3.73 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.
One of the longest, coldest heating seasons in the lower 48, at the far end of the supply chain: no in-state production, mountain routes that serve a handful of houses a mile, and a heating-oil and cordwood culture that keeps the propane base small.
Latest EIA residential propane price
Source: EIA State Heating Oil and Propane Program, Vermont residential series. Refreshed automatically every Tuesday in season; wholesale daily.
Vermont at a glance
Latest survey$3.73/gal
vs week before+0.5c
vs 4 weeks before-3.5c
vs same week last year-2%
vs US ($2.67)40% above
Among 38 surveyed states31st cheapest
500-gal fill (400 usable)$1493
Week by week, 2025-26 season
Vermont against the US average
Every point is an EIA survey week. This season Vermont ran from a low of $3.49 (3 Nov) to a high of $3.81 (9 Mar), with the US average finishing at $2.67. Against the same week a year earlier it is -2%.
$3.49
Season low
3 November 2025
$3.81
Season high
9 March 2026
$3.82
Same week last year
31 March 2025, now -2%
$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 Vermont prices are heading.
What a fill costs in Vermont at $3.73
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 $3.73 | vs US ($2.67) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 gal | 80 gal | $299 | +$85 |
| 250 gal | 200 gal | $747 | +$212 |
| 500 gal | 400 gal | $1493 | +$424 |
| 1000 gal | 800 gal | $2986 | +$847 |
A Vermont home heating on propane through a typical winter burns 1,000 to 1,500 gallons, so fuel alone runs about $3733 to $5600 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.
Vermont against its Northeast neighbours
The whole Northeast prices well above the national mark, held up by distance from supply and cold-climate demand. Pennsylvania is the standout low, helped by shorter rail distance to Marcellus and Utica supply, in-state NGL output and a denser customer base, none of which Vermont has.
| 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 Vermont runs 40% over the national average
The reasons are structural, not seasonal: supply distance, cold-climate demand, mountain route economics, and a small propane base.
Distance from production, no in-state output.
Most US propane comes from natural-gas processing on the Gulf Coast and in the Marcellus and Utica shale. Vermont sits well over a thousand miles from Gulf supply, produces no propane of its own, and depends on rail-to-truck terminals in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania before a bobtail ever reaches a Vermont tank. Every transfer adds margin ahead of retail.
Cold-climate severity and reserve carrying.
Vermont sees multi-week sub-zero stretches in the Northeast Kingdom and at elevation, with the coldest nights well below zero. That pushes household burn above the national norm, and propane vapour-pressure behaviour in extreme cold forces suppliers to hold larger on-site reserves and run more conservative auto-fill thresholds. Both lift per-gallon overhead.
Rural mountain route economics.
Caledonia, Essex, Orleans, Lamoille and rural Windham and Bennington routes serve a fraction of the customers per mile that Chittenden County routes do, but pay the same driver, truck and fuel cost. Suppliers spread that overhead across fewer gallons, so rural quotes can run well above the statewide average even from the same company.
Heating oil and cordwood keep the propane base small.
Vermont has one of the highest residential heating-oil shares in the country, plus a deep cordwood culture, so a large share of homes never buy propane for primary heat. Fewer customers per route, smaller storage per terminal and weaker supplier-level scale all push per-gallon overhead up compared with propane-dominant states.
Buying propane well in Vermont: four moves that decide the bill
A good shortlist is step one. At Vermont prices, the gap between a careless account and a well-run one is real money across a long winter. Here is where it is won.
01
Confirm the Certificate of Fitness
Anyone who installs, inspects or services LP-gas in Vermont must hold a Certificate of Fitness for Propane (LP)/Gas from the Department of Public Safety, Division of Fire Safety. Ask for the certificate holder and confirm it at firesafety.vermont.gov or on 802-479-7564. There is no public retail-price registry, so this certificate is your safety check.
02
Lock the summer rate
Wholesale propane bottoms in late spring and summer, when heating demand is near zero, and most Vermont suppliers run pre-buy or cap-price enrolment from roughly May through August. In a cold-climate state a locked summer rate routinely beats winter spot pricing across the season. Ask for a cap-price contract, which keeps the savings if wholesale falls, over a flat pre-buy, and ask whether unused prepaid gallons roll forward.
03
Quote across the supplier tiers
Vermont runs a mixed market: national carriers, regional multi-branch fuel companies, and family operators in the valleys and the Kingdom. In rural counties the spread between the cheapest local and the priciest national quote can be wide, so pull one written quote from each tier and itemise per-gallon price, delivery fee, tank rental and any minimum-delivery surcharge. If you own your tank, say so up front, because it removes the switching penalty leased-tank customers face.
04
Check Seasonal Fuel Assistance
Vermont's Seasonal Fuel Assistance, run by DCF Economic Services, helps propane households at or below 185% of the federal poverty level, with no asset test, and pays the benefit straight to your supplier. Active households also qualify for free weatherisation. Apply at dcf.vermont.gov/benefits/fuel or through the Benefits Service Center on 1-800-479-6151. Apply early in the season.
Rated by customers
Vermont 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.
Champlain Valley / Chittenden
Patterson Fuels
Jericho, Vermont
4.919 reviews, Birdeye
Third-generation family fuel company serving Chittenden and northwest Vermont with propane, heating oil, 24/7 delivery and heating service.
See the reviews ›Southern Vermont / Windham
Cota & Cota
Bellows Falls, Vermont
4.757 reviews, Birdeye
Family operator since 1941 covering southern Vermont and the New Hampshire line, cited for reliable automatic delivery and fast will-call fills.
See the reviews ›Vermont propane, the questions people ask
Does this page list every licensed propane dealer in Vermont?
No, and we will not fake one. Vermont has no single public, consumer-facing per-dealer propane registry we can republish the way Wisconsin, Texas or Florida do. Vermont regulates the trade through the Department of Public Safety, Division of Fire Safety, which adopts and enforces the Vermont Fire and Building Safety Code (including NFPA 58, the LP-Gas Code) and certifies the individuals who install, inspect and service propane systems. That is a certification of technicians, not a browsable list of retail propane sellers or their prices. What we offer instead is a hand-checked shortlist of well-reviewed operators, plus an honest rating-free list for the regions where public review counts run thin: Proctor Gas (Proctor, Rutland County, locally owned 50-plus years), Jackman Fuels (Vergennes, Addison County, since 1945), Bourne's Energy (Morrisville, Lamoille and north-central Vermont, since 1947), OnSite Propane (Cambridge, northern Vermont, locally owned since 2014), Fred's Energy (Lyndonville, Northeast Kingdom, 40-plus years) and Blanchard Oil (Orleans, Northeast Kingdom, 35-plus years). Those six are not rated here; confirm current service and the Certificate of Fitness before you commit, and use the ZIP finder for your exact town.
How do I check that a Vermont propane company is properly certified?
Anyone who installs, inspects or services LP-gas systems in Vermont must hold a Certificate of Fitness for Propane (LP)/Gas issued by the Department of Public Safety, Division of Fire Safety, under the Vermont Fire and Building Safety Code. As of January 1, 2025 the certification path was updated: the PERC Education Program (PEP) replaced the old CETP Book 1, and technicians complete the introductory PEP modules plus Books 4.1 through 4.4, with eight hours of continuing education every three years. Ask any supplier who will touch your tank or appliances for the certificate holder's name and confirm it with the Division of Fire Safety at firesafety.vermont.gov/licensing/gas-certifications, [email protected], or 802-479-7564. Membership in the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association (vermontfuel.com) or the Propane Gas Association of New England (pgane.org) is a positive signal, not a substitute for the certificate.
Am I eligible for Vermont Seasonal Fuel Assistance for propane?
Vermont's LIHEAP-funded program is called Seasonal Fuel Assistance, administered by the Vermont Department for Children and Families (DCF), Economic Services Division. Eligibility is based on gross household income at or below 185% of the federal poverty level, adjusted annually, and Vermont runs no asset test, so savings, retirement accounts and property owned do not count against you. For households whose primary heat is a delivered fuel (propane, oil, kerosene, coal), the benefit is paid directly to your fuel supplier. Propane households qualify alongside natural-gas and electric-heat customers, and active fuel-assistance households are also eligible for free weatherization services. Apply through the myBenefits portal at myBenefits.vt.gov, by calling the Benefits Service Center at 1-800-479-6151 for a paper application, or in person at a local Economic Services district office. Apply early: Vermont's January and February cold snaps push crisis applications into delivery delays.
Why is propane so expensive in Vermont?
Vermont's residential average of $3.73 a gallon runs 40% above the $2.67 national mark and sits against a $3.69 Northeast regional average, near the top of the region. The drivers are structural, not seasonal. First, distance from production: Vermont sits well over a thousand miles from Gulf Coast NGL output, has no in-state propane production, and depends on rail-to-truck terminals in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania before bobtail delivery. Second, cold-climate severity: multi-week sub-zero stretches in the Northeast Kingdom push household consumption above the national norm and force suppliers to hold larger cold-weather reserves. Third, rural mountain route economics: a delivery truck into Island Pond or rural Lamoille County serves a fraction of the customers per mile that a Burlington route does but carries the same driver, fuel and truck cost. Fourth, heating oil and a deep cordwood culture keep the propane customer base small, so suppliers get weaker economies of scale.
Why does propane cost more in the Northeast Kingdom and mountain Vermont?
Northeast Kingdom counties (Caledonia, Essex, Orleans) and the Green Mountain spine routinely see per-gallon quotes well above Chittenden and Franklin county pricing. The reason is route economics: a bobtail running into Canaan, Island Pond or rural Lamoille County serves far fewer customers per mile than a Burlington-area route, but pays the same driver wage, fuel and truck cost, so the overhead spreads across fewer gallons. Add winter conditions on Class 4 roads, longer turnaround on emergency fills, and propane vapour-pressure issues at deep-cold temperatures that call for larger on-site reserves, and the rural premium compounds. If you heat north of St. Johnsbury or up a mountain road, ask suppliers directly about any service-area surcharge, the minimum delivery in gallons, and whether automatic delivery earns a per-gallon discount for route predictability. The statewide average understates what many rural Vermont households actually pay.
Should I switch from propane to cordwood or a cold-climate heat pump in Vermont?
At Vermont's current rate the per-BTU economics increasingly favour both. Propane delivers roughly 91,500 BTU per gallon. A cord of seasoned Vermont hardwood delivers about 20 to 24 million BTU, the heat equivalent of 220 to 260 gallons of propane, which would cost around $896 at the current statewide average, so a modern wood stove or furnace can cut heating bills substantially for households willing to handle wood. Cold-climate heat pumps keep working well below zero and, at Vermont electric rates near 20 to 22 cents per kilowatt-hour and a realistic seasonal coefficient of performance around 2.5 to 3.0, deliver heat below the effective cost of propane at today's price. Most Vermont homes keep propane for cooking, hot water and backup while adding a heat pump or wood for primary space heat. Vermont also funds heat pump and weatherization rebates through Efficiency Vermont that are worth checking regardless of whether you fully convert.
What happened to Vermont's Affordable Heat Act and the Clean Heat Standard?
This is where a lot of older guidance is now wrong. Vermont's Affordable Heat Act (Act 18, signed May 24, 2023) directed the Public Utility Commission to design a Clean Heat Standard that would have required heating-fuel providers, including propane dealers, to reduce delivered-fuel emissions or buy clean-heat credits. The Commission designed the rule, but the Legislature declined to take the required authorizing vote, and in February 2026 regulators formally closed the case. The Clean Heat Standard is not going into effect. For propane buyers that means the per-gallon credit costs once projected under the program are not coming, and the pricing risk that hung over Vermont propane contracts in 2024 and 2025 has receded. The policy conversation about heating emissions will continue in some form, but there is no active Clean Heat Standard adding cost to your propane today.
Are propane prices different for Vermont second homes and ski-resort accounts?
Yes, materially. Vermont's second-home and ski corridors (Stowe, Killington, Stratton, Sugarbush, Okemo, Mount Snow, Jay Peak) run on a different supplier dynamic than year-round residential. Second-home accounts often face higher per-gallon rates because of low fill frequency (the supplier amortises one or two fills a year against the same dispatch and route cost as a full-time home), minimum-delivery surcharges when the tank sits below a set volume, and cold-weather wellness checks to prevent freeze damage at empty properties. Many ski-area suppliers offer dedicated second-home programs with tank monitoring, flat-rate annual contracts and guaranteed fills before peak weekends, but these usually price above the statewide average. If you own a second home, ask specifically about monitoring fees, minimum-delivery thresholds, freeze-protection guarantees during peak weeks, and support for remote tank monitors so you can see the level from away.
Keep reading
All Vermont dealers
Vermont 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 math for Vermont homes.