A state of emergency has been declared in more than half the country. The cause: a lack of propane. A brutal cold snap spanning the country, combined with distribution issues, has led to a limited supply and historically high prices. A gallon of the liquefied, flammable hydrocarbon (HC) gas that sold for $1 last year has risen nearly four-fold in cost.
As of Feb. 10, the national residential propane price was $3.757 per gallon, down from a high of $4.01 the week prior, but up $1.448 from the same week in 2013, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).