Colorado propane prices

Colorado makes its own propane. Gas processing plants in the DJ Basin northeast of Denver and in the Piceance on the Western Slope strip it out of the raw gas stream, which leaves the state less dependent on long-haul pipelines from the Gulf Coast than most of the Midwest is. Demand concentrates in the mountain counties and on the eastern plains, where houses sit past the end of the gas mains and the heating season runs long at altitude.

The price above comes from EIA's State Heating Oil and Propane Program, which surveys a sample of retail dealers in Colorado once a week and publishes the state average on Wednesday afternoon. It runs October through March only, so nothing new prints between April and September. Two lines run on the chart because EIA surveys Colorado dealers on both sides of the sale: what they pay at the rack and what they charge a residential customer. The lower line moves first, and the retail line follows it with a lag measured in weeks. The Census Bureau's American Community Survey, on five-year estimates, puts propane as the main heating fuel in 4.9% of occupied Colorado homes, below the national middle.

For context beyond one state, Colorado sits in the Rocky Mountain district: regional prices and Rockies and West Coast propane stocks. Estimate your fill cost with the propane usage calculator, which works from tank size, gauge reading and what the household burns.