Idaho Propane Price 2026: Cost Per Gallon, Suppliers & Delivery

Idaho residential propane runs $2.40/gal in 2026, -10% versus the $2.67 national average and one of the cheapest West-region markets alongside Colorado and Utah. PADD 4 supply proximity, short-haul deliveries from Salt Lake City and Billings refining, and a deep agricultural propane base across the Snake River Plain (potato drying, dairy, hops, sugar beets) anchor pricing well below the West regional norm. Below: real fill-cost math, the LIHEAP route via the Idaho DHW Community Action Partnership network, and how to verify a propane dealer through the Idaho DOPL LPG license database.

Latest EIA residential propane price

Source: EIA Idaho residential propane price survey. Current data is the final release of the 2025/26 heating season (week ending 30 March 2026). EIA pauses weekly publication April-September; next release expected October 2026. Refreshed 26 May 2026.

Idaho Propane Pricing Snapshot (2026)

Idaho residential avg

$2.40/gal

EIA SHOPP weekly survey, full-service residential delivery

vs national average

-10%

National avg $2.67/gal. ID pays $0.28 less per gallon than the US norm.

vs West region avg

-17%

Region avg $2.88/gal. ID sits in the cheap-cluster West (with CO and UT), $0.48 below the regional mark.

Annual fuel cost (1,000 gal)

$2397

Typical ID propane-heat household uses 800-1,400 gal/year; cold North Idaho homes trend to the upper end

500-gallon refill (400 usable)

$959

Most common Treasure Valley and Magic Valley residential tank size

Pre-buy savings (May-Aug)

$300-$700/yr

Sun Valley / McCall mountain routes lock by mid-June; Treasure Valley pre-buy slots fill July-Aug

Idaho is one of the cheaper US residential propane markets, sitting alongside Colorado, Utah, Texas, and Oklahoma at the low end of the national pricing distribution. The driver is structural: Idaho is served by short-haul propane out of Salt Lake City refining (Marathon, HF Sinclair, Big West) and Billings, Montana refining (CHS, ExxonMobil, Phillips 66) inside the EIA PADD 4 (Rocky Mountain) supply district. Add a deep agricultural propane base, potato drying, dairy water heating, hops oast drying, sugar beet processing, that supports in-state bulk storage and rail-served terminals at Pocatello, Idaho Falls, Burley, Twin Falls, Boise, and Lewiston, and Idaho retailers price competitively even against the cheapest US markets.

Why Idaho Propane Prices Sit Where They Do

Western states are not all priced the same. California, the Pacific Northwest, Hawaii, and Alaska sit well above the national average because of import-only logistics, distance to production, and limited storage. Idaho, by contrast, is a structurally cheap propane market. The drivers are durable and tied to PADD 4 supply geography and Idaho's outsized agricultural propane customer base, not seasonal swings.

1. PADD 4 (Rocky Mountain) supply proximity. Idaho sits inside EIA's PADD 4 Rocky Mountain supply district, the smallest and most production-rich PADD relative to its consumption. PADD 4 wholesale propane has been at the low end of US regional pricing through 2026, and Idaho retailers source supply on much shorter haul distances than Pacific Coast or Hawaii markets. Pipeline access to Bakken NGLs from North Dakota (Hess, ONEOK Williston Basin) and Niobrara output from Wyoming further deepens the supply pool feeding the state.

2. Salt Lake City and Billings refining feed Idaho directly. The Salt Lake City refining complex (Marathon, HF Sinclair, Big West) sits 80-280 miles from southern Idaho population centres along I-15 and I-84, and the Billings, Montana refining complex (CHS, ExxonMobil, Phillips 66) feeds eastern Idaho via short rail and truck haul. Most propane reaching Idaho retailers transits one of these two refining hubs before last-mile delivery, which keeps regional wholesale costs low and predictable. Eastern Idaho terminals at Pocatello and Idaho Falls have been pulling Salt Lake City and Billings supply for decades.

3. Agricultural propane volume anchors statewide pricing. Idaho is the country's #1 potato-producing state, a top-five dairy state, a major hops grower, and a significant sugar beet producer. Each of those crops uses propane at scale: potato post-harvest drying and storage humidity control, dairy water heating, hops oast drying, sugar beet pulp drying. The Snake River Plain runs an enormous agricultural propane corridor across Bingham, Bonneville, Cassia, Minidoka, Power, Jefferson, Twin Falls, Jerome, Canyon, Payette, and Madison counties. Ag volume justifies in-state bulk storage and supplier route economies that residential routes draw from, holding residential per-gallon margins well below what they would be in a residential-only market.

4. Intermountain Gas dominance concentrates propane demand. Intermountain Gas Company's natural-gas distribution network covers most of the Treasure Valley (Boise, Nampa, Caldwell, Meridian, Eagle, Star), Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Twin Falls, and Magic Valley urban cores. That keeps Idaho's residential propane base concentrated in well-defined sub-regions: rural Snake River Plain agriculture, North Idaho timber country, off-grid pockets in the Sawtooth and Salmon ranges, the Wood River Valley resort communities, and lake communities around Coeur d'Alene, Hayden Lake, Sandpoint, and Priest Lake. Counterintuitively, that concentrated demand creates sharper supplier competition for established routes, which holds margins down.

5. Resort and panhandle delivery surcharges are real but bounded. The headwind on Idaho pricing is delivery cost into mountain second-home zones (Sun Valley / Ketchum, McCall, Stanley, Donnelly) and panhandle rural addresses, plus winter pass closures on Banner Summit, Galena Summit, and Lolo Pass that gate delivery windows. Resort and remote-rural suppliers typically add a $25-$75 per-delivery surcharge. Even with those surcharges added back, Idaho mountain and panhandle pricing still beats the West regional average because the wholesale base is so cheap.

How to Find a Licensed Propane Supplier in Idaho

Buying propane from an unlicensed dealer in Idaho is both a safety risk and a violation of state law. The state regulates LP-Gas dealers, installers, and facilities through the Idaho State Liquefied Petroleum Gas Safety Board, housed within the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (DOPL), and the DOPL LPG license is the statutory baseline. The Idaho State Fire Marshal (Department of Insurance) enforces the LP-Gas Code, with NFPA 58 adopted as the Idaho LP Gas Code. Our supplier-selection guidance below is the verification process we apply before publishing named suppliers, never sign a contract without running each step.

Verify against the Idaho DOPL LPG license list first

The Idaho State Liquefied Petroleum Gas Safety Board, housed within the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (DOPL), holds the statutory authority for LPG dealer, installer, and facility licensing under Idaho Code Title 54, Chapter 53. Every retailer that sells, fills, transports, delivers, installs, or services LP-Gas systems in Idaho must hold an active DOPL LPG license. Categories include individual dealer, dealer-in-training, facility license (under 10,000 gallons), bulk storage facility (over 10,000 gallons), and endorsements. Search the license list at edopl.idaho.gov/OnlineServices before signing any contract. If a company quoting you cannot show their DOPL license number, that is a red flag and a likely violation of state law.

Cross-check the Rocky Mountain Propane Association member directory

The Rocky Mountain Propane Association (RMPA, rmpropane.org), headquartered in Ogden, Utah, represents propane marketers across Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming. The RMPA member directory is the strongest signal of an established, route-dense Rocky Mountain retailer, companies that have invested in safety training, advocacy, and the Rocky Mountain Propane Education and Research Council (RMPERC). Membership is not mandatory in Idaho, so absence is not disqualifying, but presence is a strong positive signal especially for Treasure Valley, Magic Valley, eastern Idaho, and panhandle coverage.

Use NPGA as a third-tier cross-reference

The National Propane Gas Association member directory at npga.org is a useful national cross-reference but does not replace DOPL license verification. NPGA membership covers retailers nationwide and confirms the company operates within recognised industry safety and training norms. For panhandle coverage you may also see Washington-licensed suppliers operating along the US-95 corridor, these companies must hold an Idaho DOPL LPG license to deliver into Idaho, regardless of their primary state of registration.

Get three written quotes covering different supplier tiers

Always request written quotes from at least three suppliers: one national chain (AmeriGas, Suburban Propane, Ferrellgas), one mid-sized regional Rocky Mountain operator with in-state bulk storage, and one local independent specific to your county or sub-region. Each tier prices differently. National chains offer predictable service but rarely the lowest per-gallon rate. Regional operators with their own storage near Pocatello, Idaho Falls, Burley, Twin Falls, Boise, or Lewiston can shave $0.20-$0.40/gal off chain pricing. Local independents with dense routes in a single county or sub-region (Magic Valley, Treasure Valley, Wood River Valley, panhandle) often beat both on price but offer narrower geographic coverage.

Insist on contract itemisation before signing

Every quote should itemise: per-gallon price, delivery fee, tank rental (monthly or annual), minimum-delivery surcharge, off-route delivery surcharge for mountain or rural addresses, contract type (will-call, automatic delivery, pre-buy, cap-price), and tank ownership status. Mountain (Sun Valley, McCall, Stanley, Sawtooth and Salmon ranges) and panhandle (Boundary, Bonner, Shoshone) addresses frequently incur a $25-$75 per-delivery surcharge that is not visible in headline per-gallon pricing. Read the contract before agreeing to anything.

Verification sources. Idaho DOPL Online Services for LPG license search and verification under Idaho Code Title 54, Chapter 53. Idaho State Fire Marshal for LP-Gas Code (NFPA 58) enforcement. Rocky Mountain Propane Association (rmpropane.org) for the ID / MT / UT / WY member directory. National Propane Gas Association (npga.org) for national cross-reference.

Tier-1 supplier list coming. A hand-curated list of named Idaho propane suppliers (with HQ, coverage area, and notes on contract types) is in our editorial pipeline. We publish supplier lists only once each name has been verified against the Idaho DOPL LPG license list and the supplier's active service-area page. We do not generate supplier names from training data; that is a hallucination risk we treat seriously.

Idaho Propane Fill Costs by Tank Size (at $2.40/gal)

Propane tanks fill to 80% of stated capacity (the "80% rule") to allow for thermal expansion. Below is what each fill costs at the Idaho 2026 average. Real-world quotes vary 10-15% above or below the EIA average depending on supplier, contract type, and delivery frequency. Mountain (Sun Valley, McCall, Stanley) and panhandle (Boundary, Bonner, Shoshone) addresses commonly add a $25-$75 per-delivery surcharge that is not reflected in the per-gallon math. Snake River Plain ag bulk-rate contracts can run $0.20-$0.40/gal under the residential headline.

Tank size	Usable gallons (80%)	Fill cost at $2.40/gal	vs national ($2.67/gal)
100 gal (portable / cabin)	80 gal	$191.76	-$22.16
250 gal (small home)	200 gal	$479.40	-$55.40
500 gal (standard residential)	400 gal	$958.80	-$110.80
1,000 gal (cold-climate / North Idaho / ag)	800 gal	$1917.60	-$221.60

Compare to the national refill cost guide or check pricing in other states.

Idaho Heating Season, Annual Use, and the Ag Calendar

Idaho's residential heating season runs roughly six months in the Treasure Valley and Magic Valley (October through March) and seven to eight months in North Idaho and the high country (September through April, with shoulder demand on summer nights at elevation). Peak residential demand sits in December and January for southern Idaho and December through February in the panhandle. Snake River Plain agricultural propane has a separate cycle dominated by August-October potato drying and post-harvest storage humidity control.

Typical Idaho propane-heat households consume 800-1,200 gallons per year for a Treasure Valley off-grid home and 1,000-1,400 gallons for a North Idaho or Wood River Valley primary residence at higher elevation. A 2,500 sqft home in Bonner County with propane handling space heat, water heat, range, and dryer averages 1,100-1,300 gallons. Sun Valley or McCall second homes used 60-80 nights per year typically run 400-700 gallons.

Translated to dollars at the 2026 Idaho average: a 1,000-gallon household pays $2397 per year for fuel alone, before tank rental fees, delivery surcharges, or service contracts. That is around $277 cheaper than a national-average market and roughly $483 cheaper than a West-region average household.

Idaho LIHEAP for income-qualified households. The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is administered by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (DHW), Division of Welfare, and distributed through seven Community Action Agencies that together cover every Idaho county. Approved households receive a one-time benefit between $122 and $1,285 (2025/26 benefit year) paid directly to the propane supplier or utility. Households with a member under age 6, age 60+, or with a disability can apply starting in October. All other households can apply starting in November. Apply online at idaholiheap.org, in person, by phone, mail, fax, or email through your local Community Action Agency. Income eligibility follows the federal LIHEAP standard at or below 60% of the State Median Income.

The Snake River Plain ag calendar drives statewide supply. Idaho potato harvest runs roughly mid-August through mid-October across Bingham, Bonneville, Cassia, Minidoka, Power, Jefferson, Twin Falls, Jerome, Canyon, Payette, and Madison counties. Post-harvest crop drying and long-term storage humidity control is propane-intensive, large volumes move through the Snake River Plain bulk plants and storage at Pocatello, Idaho Falls, Burley, Twin Falls, and Boise from August through November. The same retailers that serve ag accounts also serve residential routes, so residential pre-buy windows that overlap with ag-season supply tightening (late August through early October) tend to close earlier than in non-ag states. Lock your residential pre-buy or cap-price contract by mid-July if you want the best chance of supplier route capacity.

Summer pre-buy is the single biggest lever. Pre-buying or capping in May-July routinely saves $300-$500 per year for a Treasure Valley 1,000-gallon household and $400-$700 for a Sun Valley, McCall, or North Idaho primary residence. Resort suppliers run their pre-buy enrollment May through July; Treasure Valley and Magic Valley suppliers extend through August but tighten earlier than non-ag states because of the August-October potato-drying pull on supplier capacity. Read the contract: cap-price contracts let you keep savings if wholesale falls; flat pre-buy locks you in either direction. Mountain second-home owners should lock by mid-June to secure delivery slots before peak summer construction-season demand and the ag harvest cycle pull supplier capacity onto job sites and crop dryers.

Idaho vs Other West-Region States (2026)

State	Price/gal	500-gal refill (400 usable)	vs national ($2.67)
Hawaii	$4.15	$1660	+55%
Alaska	$3.85	$1540	+44%
California	$3.42	$1368	+28%
Washington	$3.02	$1208	+13%
Oregon	$2.98	$1192	+11%
Nevada	$2.95	$1180	+10%
New Mexico	$2.93	$1172	+10%
Arizona	$2.72	$1088	+2%
Idaho (this page)	$2.40	$959	-10%
Utah	$2.34	$935	-13%
Colorado	$2.30	$921	-14%
Wyoming	$2.27	$906	-15%
Montana	$2.12	$848	-21%

Idaho clusters at the cheap end of the West with Colorado and Utah, all three benefiting from PADD 4 (Rocky Mountain) supply proximity and short-haul refining out of Salt Lake City and Billings. The West regional average is $2.88/gal, dragged up by Hawaii (import-only logistics), Alaska (limited refining and barge-only delivery), and California / Pacific Northwest (longer supply chains and constrained in-state refining). Mountain states with PADD 4 supply proximity (CO, ID, UT, WY, MT) sit well below the regional average; Idaho's deep agricultural propane base across the Snake River Plain reinforces that pricing edge by anchoring in-state bulk storage and supplier route economics.

Idaho Propane FAQ

Why is propane cheaper in Idaho than the West regional average?

Idaho residential propane is $2.40/gal in the latest EIA SHOPP release, -10% versus the $2.67 national average and -17% versus the $2.88 West regional average. Idaho clusters with Colorado and Utah at the cheap end of the West because all three states sit inside EIA's PADD 4 (Rocky Mountain) supply district and are served by short-haul propane from Salt Lake City refining (Marathon, HF Sinclair, Big West) and Billings, Montana refining (CHS, ExxonMobil, Phillips 66). Add a deep agricultural propane base across the Snake River Plain, and Idaho retailers source supply on much shorter haul distances than California, the Pacific Northwest, Hawaii, or Alaska. The West regional average runs $0.48 above Idaho, dragged up by Hawaii (import-only), Alaska (logistics), and California / Pacific Northwest pricing.

Am I eligible for Idaho LIHEAP heating assistance for propane?

Idaho's Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is administered by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (DHW), Division of Welfare, and distributed locally by seven Community Action Agencies that together cover every county in the state. LIHEAP is a federally funded one-time annual benefit that helps pay for a primary heat source, propane, natural gas, electricity, wood, pellets, or heating oil, for income-qualified households. For the 2025/26 benefit year the minimum payment is $122 and the maximum is $1,285, paid directly to the propane supplier or utility on your behalf. Households with a member under age 6, age 60 or older, or with a disability can begin applying in October. All other households can begin applying in November. Applications are accepted in person, by phone, by mail, fax or email through your local Community Action Agency, or online at idaholiheap.org. The seven Community Action Partnership members are Community Action Partnership (Lewiston, North Idaho), El-Ada CAP (Boise / Ada-Elmore), South Central CAP (Twin Falls), Eastern Idaho CAP (Idaho Falls / SEICAA), Western Idaho CAP, Community Action Agency (Pocatello), and CCOA (Coeur d'Alene). If you do not qualify for LIHEAP, ask your supplier whether they participate in the Idaho Public Utilities Commission winter shutoff protections, these only apply to regulated utilities, not propane delivery, but most suppliers run their own hardship deferral programs.

How do I find a licensed propane dealer in Idaho?

Idaho regulates LP-Gas dealers, installers, and facilities through the Idaho State Liquefied Petroleum Gas Safety Board, housed within the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (DOPL). Every retailer that sells, fills, refills, transports, delivers, installs, or maintains LP-Gas systems in Idaho must hold an active DOPL LPG license under Idaho Code Title 54, Chapter 53. License categories include individual LPG dealer, dealer-in-training, facility license (under 10,000 gallons), bulk storage facility (over 10,000 gallons), and endorsements. Search the certificate-holder list and verify any company you are quoted at edopl.idaho.gov/OnlineServices before signing. Separately, the Idaho State Fire Marshal (within the Idaho Department of Insurance) enforces the LP-Gas Code, Idaho has adopted NFPA 58 (the LPG Code) as the state's installation and operation standard. The Rocky Mountain Propane Association (RMPA, rmpropane.org), based in Ogden UT and covering ID / MT / UT / WY, publishes a member directory of established marketers across the four-state region. As a third cross-check, the National Propane Gas Association (npga.org) lists Idaho member retailers. If a company is missing from the DOPL license list, walk away.

What does a full tank of propane cost in Idaho?

At the Idaho statewide rate of $2.40/gal, filling a 500-gallon residential tank to its 80%-rule capacity (400 usable gallons) costs $958.80. A 250-gallon tank fills for $479.40, a 100-gallon portable cylinder fills for $191.76, and a 1,000-gallon tank, the typical size for cold-climate North Idaho homes and ag operations, fills for $1917.60. Propane tanks fill to 80% rather than 100% to allow for thermal expansion in summer heat, which is a federal NFPA 58 safety requirement enforced in Idaho by the State Fire Marshal, not a supplier markup. Real-world quotes vary 10-15% above or below the EIA average depending on supplier, contract type (will-call, auto-fill, pre-buy, cap-price), delivery frequency, and tank ownership. Snake River Plain agricultural addresses with bulk-rate contracts often beat the residential headline by $0.20-$0.40/gal during the off-peak summer months.

Why is potato-drying propane such a big deal in Idaho?

Idaho is the country's largest potato-producing state by a wide margin (about a third of the US fresh potato crop), and propane is the dominant fuel for post-harvest crop drying, storage humidity control, and frost protection. The harvest cycle pulls enormous bulk-propane volumes through August-October across the Snake River Plain, Bingham, Bonneville, Cassia, Minidoka, Power, Jefferson, Twin Falls, Jerome, Canyon, Payette, Washington, and Madison counties. Add dairy water heating (Idaho is a top-five US dairy state, concentrated in the Magic Valley around Twin Falls), hops oast drying in the Treasure Valley, and sugar beet drying in the Magic Valley and Snake River Plain, and Idaho has one of the deepest agricultural propane customer bases in the West. That ag baseline does two things to residential pricing: it justifies in-state bulk storage and rail-served terminals (Pocatello, Idaho Falls, Burley, Twin Falls, Boise, Lewiston) that residential routes also draw from, and it gives suppliers volume cushion that lets them quote sharper residential rates than they could in markets without an ag base. Ag propane is wholesale-indexed and contracts are typically negotiated annually with regional bulk plant operators rather than the residential delivery network. Volume thresholds matter, most ag dealers offer materially better per-gallon pricing above 5,000 gallons per year. Talk to your local farm cooperative before going direct.

When should Sun Valley and McCall second-home owners pre-buy propane?

Mountain second-home demand cycles drive Idaho's tightest pricing windows in Sun Valley / Ketchum, McCall, Stanley, Donnelly, and Coeur d'Alene resort communities. The play is the same as for primary residences but the timing is more aggressive: lock in your cap-price or pre-buy contract by mid-June, before peak summer construction-season demand pulls supplier route capacity onto job sites. Resort suppliers run their pre-buy enrollment May through July, and slots fill earlier than in the Treasure Valley because mountain delivery routes are smaller and capacity-constrained. Households that fill in October at full-rate delivery instead of locking in summer routinely pay an extra $0.40-$0.70/gal. For a typical 1,000-gallon Sun Valley or McCall household, that is $400-$700 per season. If your tank is below 50% in early November, get on the auto-fill list before Thanksgiving, supplier routes tighten dramatically once ski season opens at Sun Valley, Tamarack, Brundage, Schweitzer, Bogus Basin, and Silver Mountain, and winter pass closures on Banner Summit, Galena Summit, and Lolo Pass start gating delivery windows.

What about North Idaho rural propane patterns?

North Idaho, Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai, Benewah, Shoshone, Latah, Clearwater, Idaho, and Nez Perce counties, runs on a different propane economy than the Snake River Plain. Treasure Valley (Boise, Nampa, Caldwell) and most of the Idaho Falls / Pocatello population sits on Intermountain Gas Company's natural-gas distribution grid, which means urban Idaho is largely a non-propane residential market. Propane density concentrates in rural North Idaho timber country, off-grid pockets in the Salmon and Sawtooth ranges, the Palouse, and the lake communities around Coeur d'Alene, Hayden Lake, Sandpoint, and Priest Lake. North Idaho winters are colder than Treasure Valley winters (USDA Zone 5 vs Zone 6/7), so a 2,000-2,500 sqft propane-heat home in Bonner or Boundary County typically burns 1,000-1,400 gallons per year, versus 700-900 for a comparable Treasure Valley off-grid home. Supplier coverage in the panhandle leans on Spokane-based and Coeur d'Alene-based marketers more than Boise-based companies, the Bitterroot and Selkirk geography makes it cheaper to truck propane down US-95 from Spokane than over Lolo Pass from southern Idaho. Always quote at least one panhandle-local supplier alongside any regional or national chain. At the $2.40/gal Idaho average, a North Idaho 1,200-gallon household pays $2876 per year for fuel alone before tank rental, delivery surcharges, or service contracts.