EIA residential propane, Maine
Maine propane prices: $3.52 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.
The most oil-heat-dependent state in the country, at the far end of the US propane supply chain, with one legal rule that decides whether you can shop around at all: a Maine dealer cannot fill a tank it does not own.
Latest EIA residential propane price
Source: EIA State Heating Oil and Propane Program, Maine residential series. Refreshed automatically every Tuesday in season; wholesale daily.
Maine at a glance
Latest survey$3.52/gal
vs week before+3.2c
vs 4 weeks before+16.2c
vs same week last year-2%
vs US ($2.67)32% above
Among 38 surveyed states27th cheapest
500-gal fill (400 usable)$1409
Week by week, 2025-26 season
Maine against the US average
Every point is an EIA survey week. This season Maine ran from a low of $3.12 (13 Oct) to a high of $3.54 (9 Mar), with the US average finishing at $2.67. Against the same week a year earlier it is -2%.
$3.12
Season low
13 October 2025
$3.54
Season high
9 March 2026
$3.58
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 Maine prices are heading.
What a fill costs in Maine at $3.52
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 $3.52 | vs US ($2.67) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 gal | 80 gal | $282 | +$68 |
| 250 gal | 200 gal | $705 | +$170 |
| 500 gal | 400 gal | $1409 | +$340 |
| 1000 gal | 800 gal | $2818 | +$679 |
A Maine home heating on propane through a typical winter burns 1,000 to 1,500 gallons, so fuel alone runs about $3523 to $5285 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.
Maine against its Northeast neighbours
The whole Northeast sits well above the national mark, so wherever Maine lands inside the region it still runs over the national average. The pricier end of the region is furthest from the Mid-Atlantic terminals and carries the longest final routes; the cheaper end sits closer to those terminals with shorter truck hauls.
| 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 Maine runs 32% over the national average
Maine runs one of the longest, coldest heating seasons in the lower 48 and carries the highest residential oil-heat share in the country. The reasons propane costs what it does here are structural, not seasonal.
End of the pipeline.
Most US propane is produced on the Gulf Coast or in the Marcellus and Utica shale, roughly 1,800 miles from Maine. Product arrives by pipeline to Mid-Atlantic terminals, then by rail and a long final truck haul, with seaborne cargoes filling the winter gap through the terminal at Searsport. Every transfer stacks a margin before the retail markup, and Maine sits past every inland Northeast state on that chain.
No in-state production, thin storage.
Maine has no in-state propane production and little storage beyond what individual suppliers hold at their bulk plants. When a January cold snap drains regional inventory, retailers buy spot-market emergency deliveries from outside New England and that pass-through hits customer bills within days. The Propane Gas Association of New England lobbies for more regional storage, but the build-out is slow.
The most oil-heat-dependent market in the US.
Roughly half of Maine homes still heat with oil and about 16% with propane, so the propane customer base is smaller and more dispersed than in a gas-main state. That thinner base spreads delivery overhead across fewer gallons per route. The propane share is growing as oil systems are replaced, which is one of the few forces holding per-gallon overhead in check.
Long rural routes Downeast and in Aroostook.
Maine is large and thinly settled outside the southern coast. Delivery routes through Aroostook potato country, the Downeast shore, and the western mountains cover far more miles per stop than a dense southern suburb, and that mileage loads the delivery share of the price. Rural addresses in these regions typically pay 10 to 30 cents a gallon more than a York or Cumberland County home for the same service.
Buying propane well in Maine: the moves that change the bill
A licensed dealer list is step one. The gap between a careless propane account and a well-run one in Maine is usually a few hundred dollars a winter, and one legal rule decides whether you can even shop around.
01
Find out who owns your tank
Maine law bars a dealer from filling a tank it does not own, so a leased tank locks you to one supplier. Before you sign anything, confirm whether the tank is owned or leased. Owning it outright (bought new or via a buyout) is what lets you shop on price every season. If it is leased, factor the buyout or swap cost into any switch.
02
Check the Fuel Board licence
The Maine Fuel Board, under the Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation, licenses the technicians who deliver propane, run bulk plants, and set tanks. Confirm the company and technician on the ALMS licence lookup. Every company in the register is an active licence; verify the specific technician doing your tank set carries a current one too.
03
Lock summer, not autumn
Maine wholesale bottoms in mid-summer when heating demand is near zero, and most suppliers run pre-buy enrollment from May through August. A 1,000-gallon household that locks 20 to 30 cents a gallon cheaper banks $300 to $600 before the long winter. Ask for a cap-price contract, which keeps the saving if wholesale falls, rather than a strict pre-buy, and ask whether unused pre-paid gallons roll forward.
04
Quote beyond the statewide names
Two more established operators worth a quote have public review bases too thin to score reliably: Daigle Oil Company (Fort Kent, serving Aroostook and northern Penobscot since 1955) and Giroux Energy Solutions (Portland, serving greater southern Maine since 1959). Pull three written quotes whoever you call, and check the price a dealer is quoting against the Maine Department of Energy Resources weekly fuel survey, which publishes a live statewide propane average through the heating season.
05
Apply for HEAP early
The Home Energy Assistance Program, run by MaineHousing through Community Action Agencies, pays a heating benefit toward propane for income-eligible households, credited straight to your supplier. The 2025-2026 season opened 1 August 2025 and runs to 29 May 2026 or until funds run out, which usually comes first. Apply at mainehousing.org or your local Community Action Agency. The ECIP crisis benefit covers no-heat and near-empty-tank emergencies.
Rated by customers
Maine 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.
Western Maine / Franklin County
Dead River Company (Farmington)
Farmington, Maine
4.762 reviews, Birdeye
Maine's largest home-energy company (founded 1909) runs propane and heating oil statewide from dozens of branches. Scores swing by location; the Farmington branch is its best-reviewed in the public data we found.
See the reviews ›Downeast / Hancock County
Dead River Company (Ellsworth)
Ellsworth, Maine
3.988 reviews, Birdeye
The largest single Maine propane review base we located. Reviews praise reliable delivery and technician work; recurring complaints are minimum-fill fees and scheduling waits. A useful reality check on a big-operator account.
See the reviews ›Central Maine / Penobscot County
R.H. Foster Energy
Hampden, Maine
4.3a handful of reviews, GasBuddy (4.0 on Angi)
A 65-year central-Maine independent covering Penobscot, Waldo, Hancock, and Washington counties. Delivery, tank installs, and 24-hour service. Ratings are decent but the sample is small, so treat it as directional.
See the reviews ›Central Maine / Somerset County
C.N. Brown Energy
Pittsfield, Maine
3.732 reviews, Birdeye
A long-running Oxford-Hills-headquartered fuel and propane operator with many Maine branches. The Pittsfield branch is one of its higher-scored; other C.N. Brown branches score lower, which is exactly why you check the specific branch that serves your ZIP.
See the reviews ›Verified on the state registry
8 of the 424 Maine dealers on the Fuel Board register
| Dealer | City | Phone |
|---|---|---|
| A & B Hayes Inc. True Value | Bridgton | listing |
| A And A Hardware Inc. | Greene | listing |
| A Buddy's | New Gloucester | listing |
| A E Robinson Oil Co | Dexter | listing |
| A.E. Robinson Convenience Store-Corinth | Corinth | listing |
| A.E. Robinson Guilford C -Store | Guilford | listing |
| A.E. Robinson Oil Company | Dover Foxcroft | listing |
| Abol LLC | Millinocket | listing |
Source: Maine Fuel Board ALMS licence register, captured 5 June 2026. A registry listing is a licence record, not an endorsement. Confirm current standing on the ALMS licence lookup.
Maine propane, the questions people ask
Where do the dealers on this page come from?
The registry list is drawn from the Maine Fuel Board's Agency License Management System (ALMS), the state's public register of licensed propane operators, administered by the Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation, captured on 5 June 2026 and filtered to active Dispensing Station licences only, dropping the failed-to-renew, expired, withdrawn, and equipment-manufacturer rows. The ALMS export does not publish phone numbers or street addresses, so the register carries town, ZIP, and the Fuel Board licence ID. It is a licence snapshot, not an endorsement or a ranking; confirm current standing on the ALMS lookup and get three written quotes before you sign. The rated shortlist above it is separate: operators with real public review scores.
Why is propane expensive in Maine, and where does the state rank?
Maine residential propane sits at $3.52 a gallon in the latest EIA survey against a $2.67 national average, so it is an expensive state to heat with propane. The whole Northeast prices well above the national mark; the regional average is $3.69. The reasons Maine prices above the nation are structural. Maine is at the far end of the US propane supply chain, with product produced on the Gulf Coast or in the Marcellus shale and moved by pipeline, rail, and finally truck into a state with no in-state production and thin regional storage. Demand concentrates into a long, severe-cold heating season, so January and February cold snaps push spot pricing hard. And Maine's rural geography, especially Aroostook County and the western mountains, means long delivery routes with low customer density that load the delivery component of the retail price.
Can a Maine propane company fill a tank it does not own?
No. Maine law prohibits a propane dealer from filling a tank it does not own. This is the single most important thing to understand before you switch suppliers. If your tank is leased from your current company, a new supplier cannot legally deliver into it, so switching means either buying out or removing the leased tank and having the new company set and inspect its own, which carries a charge. If you own your tank outright you can shop freely on price and service. The Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division enforces this and the wider Maine Unfair Trade Practices Act; if a dealer that holds your automatic-delivery contract runs you low or out of fuel, you should not be charged an emergency-delivery fee. Complaints go to the Consumer Protection Division on 1-800-436-2131 or 207-626-8849.
How does the EIA price compare with Maine's own weekly fuel survey?
Two official sources publish Maine propane prices and they measure different things. The EIA State Heating Oil and Propane Program (SHOPP) figure of $3.52 a gallon is a heating-season-weighted full-service residential average and drives the comparisons on this page. The Maine Department of Energy Resources (DOER) runs its own statewide survey of delivered-fuel retailers, weekly during the heating season (September to April) and every other week off-season (May to August), reporting a 30-day cash price for households using at least 900 gallons a year. In the week of 17 August 2026 the DOER survey put the statewide propane average at $3.17 a gallon, lower than the EIA figure because it is a summer cash and pre-pay price rather than a winter full-service average. Read both: EIA for the year-round benchmark, DOER for the live number your dealer is quoting off this week. Note also that the Maine Energy Marketers Association is the industry trade body for fuel dealers, not a regulator or a price authority.
Does MaineHousing HEAP help pay for propane?
Yes. The federal LIHEAP block grant is run in Maine as the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) by Maine State Housing Authority (MaineHousing) through the network of Community Action Agencies plus ProsperityME. The 2025-2026 season opened 1 August 2025 and accepts applications through 29 May 2026 or until funds run out, and funds usually run out first, so apply early. Eligibility is set by household income and size. Households without heat or with less than a seven-day supply of fuel can also use the Energy Crisis Intervention Program (ECIP) for a one-time emergency benefit. Apply online at mainehousing.org, or by phone or in person through your local Community Action Agency. Benefits are paid to your propane supplier as a vendor credit, so you do not pay first and claim back.
Should I switch from heating oil to propane in Maine?
Maine is the most oil-heat-dependent state in the country, with roughly half of occupied homes still on heating oil and about 16% on propane. Per BTU the two fuels are usually close at Maine prices: heating oil delivers about 138,500 BTU per gallon versus 91,500 for propane, so you burn roughly 1.5 gallons of propane to match a gallon of oil. At current numbers the per-BTU economics still favour oil, so switching purely to chase a lower per-gallon figure rarely pays. Propane wins on cleanliness, 95%-plus efficiency furnaces, and full appliance compatibility (range, dryer, water heat, generator, fireplace). The catch is conversion cost, typically $6,000 to $12,000 for a boiler or furnace plus tank set, with payback often 8 to 15 years. Switch when your oil unit is at end of life or when a MaineHousing weatherization project can carry part of the conversion.
Why does Aroostook County pay more for propane than southern Maine?
Aroostook is Maine's largest county by area with punishing rural-route economics for fuel delivery. It grows about 90% of the state's commercial potato crop and is a major Christmas-tree region, both of which lean on propane for greenhouse heat, frost protection, and drying barns, but the residential base is thin and the miles between stops are long. Suppliers running the Caribou, Presque Isle, Houlton, and Fort Kent routes carry a per-gallon overhead that a York or Cumberland County route does not, and that shows up as roughly 10 to 30 cents a gallon more. Established operators headquartered in The County, such as Daigle Oil Company in Fort Kent (an Aroostook independent since 1955), are usually most competitive inside their home ZIPs; the spread opens once you go outside their service ring.
When should Maine homeowners pre-buy or lock a price?
May through August is the strongest window. Wholesale propane is at its annual low when heating demand is near zero, and most Maine suppliers run pre-buy or cap-price enrollment across those months. A 1,000-gallon household that locks even 20 to 30 cents a gallon below winter spot can bank $300 to $600 over the October-to-April season. Read the contract type: a cap-price contract lets you keep the saving if winter wholesale falls, while a strict pre-buy locks the gallons and price in either direction. Ask whether unused pre-paid gallons roll over. A clean sequence is to check HEAP eligibility in late summer, sign a cap-price or pre-buy contract in June or July, and top the tank to 80% by mid-October before the first cold snap.
Keep reading
All Maine dealers
The complete verified directory of 424 Maine 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 the most oil-heat-dependent state in the US.