Countdown: Lower-Cost E15 Fuel Under Threat -- Washington Must Act Now to Save Summertime E15

April 03, 2023

Print This Article Share it With Friends

(Renewable Fuels Association) Gas prices remain elevated and hard-working families are feeling pain at the pump. Fortunately, American-made ethanol provides some relief. Today, gas with 15 percent ethanol is the lowest-priced fuel available. But this blend, E15, will disappear on Thursday, June 1, unless Washington acts NOW.

A March 2023 poll found strong support for year-round E15 sales. Nearly 70% of poll respondents support increasing the availability of E15 to help lower fuel prices and support energy independence, while 62% percent support recently introduced bipartisan legislation that would allow the lower-carbon E15 blend to be sold year-round nationwide.

Call your Senators and Representatives today. And call the White House at 202-456-1111. Tell them we need E15 this summer. We can’t afford ANOTHER price hike at the pump. READ MORE

ANNOUNCE SUMMER WAIVER FOR E15 SOON, ASKS ETHANOL GROUP (Successful Farming)

RFA Ad Campaign Calls on Biden Administration to Allow Lower-Cost E15 This Summer (Renewable Fuels Association)

Growth Energy Launches Campaign to Protect Summer Savings with E15 (Growth Energy)

Listen: ‘Boutique’ fuel for Midwest not the way to fix E15’s summer dilemma: fuel makers (S&P Global)

Biofuel and Farm Leaders Press White House for Immediate Action on E15 (Renewable Fuels Association)

RFA ad campaign urges White House to issue E15 emergency waiver (Ethanol Producer Magazine)

RFA Kicks Off Ad Campaign for E15 (Energy.AgWired.com)

Kansas governor advocates for E15 emergency waiver (Ethanol Producer Magazine)

E15 Sales Surpassed 1 Billion Gallons in 2022, but Are at Risk Again This Summer Due to Regulatory Uncertainty (Renewable Fuels Association)

CORN GROWER LEADERS TO EPA: MAINTAINING CONSUMER ACCESS TO E15 INCREASES FUEL SUPPLY (National Corn Growers Association)

Ethanol Blog: Ethanol, Ag Groups Ask Biden for E15 Waiver as Summer Driving Season Approaches (DTN Progressive Farmer)

Biofuel and Farm Leaders Press White House for Immediate Action on E15 (DRG News)

Ag, biofuel groups urge Biden to issue E15 emergency waiver (Ethanol Producer Magazine)

Uncertainty over ethanol consumption has corn and soybean producers concerned (RFD TV)

CLOCK TICKING FOR E15 (Brownfield Ag News)

Biden urged to green light summer E15 sales (Michigan Farm News)

NCGA: Maintaining consumer access to E15 increases fuel supply (Ethanol Producer Magazine/National Corn Growers Association)

RFA CALLS ON BIDEN ADMINISTRATION TO ALLOW E15 THIS SUMMER (NewsDakota.com)

Biofuel and Farm Leaders Press White House for Immediate Action on E15, American Farm Bureau Federation Reports (Sierra Sun Times)

SUMMERTIME E15 DECISION MUST COME SOON (NewsDakota.com)

ERNST, GRASSLEY CONTINUE PUSH FOR E15 SALES THIS SUMMER (Brownfield Ag News)

Ethanol Report on E15 in Limbo (Energy.AgWired.com; includes AUDIO)

Midwestern leaders want to sell ethanol in summer despite smog risks (Grist)

Fact Sheet: Ethanol’s Effect on Fuel Volatility (Environmental and Energy Study Institute)

Ethanol Blog: AFPM Calls on Eight States to Rescind E15 Requests With EPA (DTN Progressive Farmer)

Excerpt from Successful Farming: “We ultimately need a federal fix to air pollution laws to ensure year-round availability of the fuel,” said Emily Skor, chief executive of Growth Energy, during a teleconference.

President Biden announced an emergency waiver of the summer ban last April 11, saying it would help Americans cope with high gasoline prices. Skor said that ethanol makers and retailers were having “good conversations” with “the right people” for a waiver this summer. Otherwise, E15 sales would be barred from June 1 to Sept. 15 as a precaution against smog.

“We want this to come out in enough time,” she said.

Gasoline retailers Brad Peterson and Carson Berger joined Skor in calling for a waiver. “We saw a lot of customers shift” to lower-priced E15 last summer, said Peterson, director of retail fuels for the Kum and Go convenience store chain, based in Iowa. Berger, the chief executive of NUVU Fuels Michigan, which specializes in higher-blend biofuels and high-octane gasoline, said that “E15 is the most popular choice” among NUVU customers.

Peterson and Berger said they would prefer an administration decision well in advance of the summer driving season so they can line up fuel supplies. “The sooner, the better for us,” said Peterson.

E15 is sold at a comparatively small number of U.S. gas stations — fewer than 2 percent, according to an estimate last year. In 2021, a federal appeals court ruled that the Trump administration had overstepped its authority in a 2019 regulation allowing summer sales of E15. The ruling ignited a scramble to maintain year-round sales and led to Biden’s decision on sales last summer.

“We believe this year should be no different,” said Skor. Bills are pending in the House and Senate that would require the use of higher-octane gasoline, which could be filled with increased use of ethanol. The Renewable Fuels Association said the Next Generation Fuels Act “would establish high-octane (95 and 98 RON) certification test fuels containing 20-30 percent ethanol, while requiring automobile manufacturers to design and warrant their vehicles to allow these fuels beginning with model year 2026.” READ MORE

Excerpt from DTN Progressive Farmer: The eight states expecting EPA action to allow year-round E15 permanently by 2024 should rescind their requests because they are likely to see significant costs in keeping the fuel available, officials with the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers said during a press call last week.

An AFPM-funded study released by the group purports to show total annual costs of $500 million to $800 million to provide E15 in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

In addition, AFPM said removing the RVP waiver from E10 would require the production of a new, lower-RVP base gasoline. That new boutique fuel can then be used to produce either E10 or E15 in those states and would be more expensive to produce.

Ericka Perryman, director of issues communications for AFPM, responded to a question raised by DTN on Twitter about whether E10 would no longer be offered for sale in the eight states.

"If these 8 states don't have the RVP waiver in place for summertime gasoline, then the gasoline recipe for the region will need to change," Perryman said in response.

"And that means a boutique gasoline product that's costlier to produce and distribute. With the RVP waiver removed, the same E10 gasoline sold last summer would no longer meet the standard. Even E15 would have to be made from this new base gasoline blend in order to be sold in the 8 states."

EPA responded to DTN's question about E10 in a statement last week.

"Removing the 1 pound per-square-inch waiver will not limit the sale of any fuels in the covered states," EPA said. "The rule simply means that E10 must meet the same RVP standards as other gasoline blends like E0 and E15. The action also proposed a regulatory process by which a state may request to reinstate the 1-psi waiver. Finally, the action also discusses several petitions EPA has received to extend the effective date of the rule from the date originally requested in the governors' petitions."

AFPM makes a number of claims in its study including:

-The cost to produce, store and distribute a unique Midwestern fuel that must be segregated from other fuel is expected to range from 8 cents to 12 cents per gallon in the near term.

-Fewer refineries in the region will be capable of supplying Midwestern summertime gasoline. Refinery and supply system constraints would result in about 125,000 fewer barrels per day of in-region gasoline production and 33,000 fewer barrels per day of in-region diesel fuel production during the summer --equivalent to the loss of fuel from an outage at a large Midwest refinery.

-Capital improvement projects are estimated to cost $50 million to $75 million per facility.

-Lower fuel production in the region will be made up by fuel supplied from Gulf Coast refineries, which is transported to the Midwest by pipeline. Adding two new low-RVP grades (regular and premium) limits the capability of the fuel supply system to respond to a supply disruption.

-In the event of a disruption, the affected states could experience more frequent and longer supply disruptions and a higher risk of price spikes and shortages.

-Recent history shows price differences between low-RVP and high-RVP gasoline blends in the Midwest can reach 60 cents per gallon in a disruption.

-PADD (Petroleum Administration for Defense Districts) 2's refining complex evolved to serve conventional gasoline markets under the 1-psi ethanol waiver.

As a result, refiners and pipelines cannot readily produce and segregate high- and low-RVP gasolines. To do so would require investments that typically take two years to complete.

-Typically, refiners transition to summer-grade fuel in February and pipelines in March to meet the deadline for supplying summer-grade fuel at the pump.

Read the AFPM study here: https://www.afpm.org/… READ MORE