Answer Line: Money behind Lack of Ethanol-Based Fuel Locations

Business News/Analysis, Deliver Dispense, Infrastructure, Louisiana, Texas

September 10, 2018

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(Longview News Journal) … Why are there no public refueling locations in the Longview/Tyler area that sell E85 ethanol blend?

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E85 fueling options are limited and appear concentrated in larger metropolitan areas. The Renewable Fuels Association operates the website www.E85prices.com, which has a map that shows there are 4,429 stations offering E85 in 2,462 cities throughout the country. In Texas, there are 232 stations selling E85 in 108 cities.

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I spoke to representatives of the Environmental and Energy Study Institute and the Texas Food and Fuel Association, who explained that selling E85 gasoline requires an investment in equipment on the part of a gas station that decides to sell it.

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Ethanol fuels are typically blended at the fuel terminal. Also, E85 fuel would probably require its own storage tanks at a gas station, he (Scott Fisher, senior vice president of policy and public affairs for the Texas Food and Fuel Association) said. Then, the gas station also would have to have an above-ground fuel dispenser that is compatible with E85 fuel. All of that can mean an investment of tens of thousands of dollars to sell E85 fuel.

Jessie Stolark, with the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, also explained that most of the retailers have contracts with the “big five” oil companies, and those contracts are typically “very restrictive” in terms of what fuels a gas station can sell. Fuel blends such as E85 typically are found at independently owned, smaller companies, she said. READ MORE

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