Propane gallon sales increase in 2022; California tops the list

Images: chokkicx/DigitalVision Vectors/Getty Images (map); photosynthesis/iStock / Getty Images Plus/Getty Images (stars)

California owns bragging rights for another year.

The Golden State held off Michigan for the second straight year to become the No. 1 state for retail propane sales. The final tally in millions of gallons: 539-531.

California maintained its lead despite a 7-million-gallon decrease in sales. Michigan, which saw a 9-million-gallon bump in sales, had held the top spot for three consecutive years prior to these past two years. So, if there’s such a thing as a propane sales rivalry, well, we know where to look.

We find these fun, informative stats in a much-anticipated annual report prepared by Frost & Sullivan for the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC). This latest survey-based report, for 2022, contains some other noteworthy items. Here’s what stood out to us.

The top 10: You know the top two states for retail, odorized propane sales. Here’s the top 10 with their gallon sales totals. Side note: Nine of these states also appeared in the previous top 10, with Ohio as the only newcomer, unseating Pennsylvania.

1. California – 539 million gallons
2. Michigan – 531
3. Minnesota – 501
4. Texas – 493
5. Wisconsin – 452
6. Iowa – 449
7. New York – 428
8. Illinois – 408
9. Ohio – 390
10. North Carolina – 382

Overall sales: We couldn’t resist playing up the California-Michigan duel, but the total gallon sales number for the year is always a point of emphasis. In 2022, the U.S. propane industry sold 9.84 billion gallons, owing to higher residential gallon sales and increased industrial activities post pandemic. This marks a 3.1 percent year-over-year increase from the 9.54 billion gallons sold in 2021 and the second straight year that gallon sales have ticked upward. Total sales were nearly 10 percent above the 10-year average of 8.96 billion gallons. So, plenty of positives. Now, can we return to the 10-plus billion gallons of 2019?

Market metrics: California and Michigan couldn’t reach the top without excelling in specific market sectors. California topped the commercial market with 154 million gallons, while Michigan reigned in the residential market with 356 million gallons. Iowa sold the most agriculture gallons (116 million) in a down year for grain drying demand, while Texas swept the internal combustion (68), industrial (61) and cylinder (48) markets.

Residential recovery: It’s always nice to see growth in residential gallon sales, which increased 6 percent in 2022 compared to the previous year. This equates to an increase of 273 million gallons and a sales total of nearly 5.2 billion gallons. The residential market accounted for 53 percent of all sales in 2022 and bounced back after a sales decrease in 2021.

Weather report: North America experienced the 15^th-warmest year on record in 2022, but average heating degree-days in the U.S. increased by 7.8 percent to 4,240. Alaska had the most (10,035), trailed by North Dakota (9,610) and Minnesota (9,086). The year included 18 billion-dollar severe weather events, which led to more generator use for critical applications and played a role in the increased retail propane sales.

Headwinds: Forced electrification is an ongoing issue in the propane industry. The report cites electrification and the adoption of heat pumps as factors in declining propane sales in the Northeast, which was the only region to lose gallons (by 1.1 percent compared to a year earlier). While propane sales in the West grew by 6.4 percent, its cylinder and internal combustion sectors saw declines in gallon sales due to the use of alternate fuels and electrification, according to the report. The Midwest accounted for the most propane sales by region at nearly 38 percent.

Tracking renewables: A new category appears in the 2022 report: renewable propane sales. The section is quite small, but it does show how propane marketers sold 50 million gallons of renewable propane and renewable propane blends, indicative of how the industry is indeed changing.

You can dive deeper into these survey results and more by downloading the report at propane.com/salesreport.