Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor issued the following statement after a coalition letter signed by more than 250 companies and groups was delivered today to Congressional leaders urging them to allow the sale of E15 year-round and to support S. 5145, the Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2022. The bill would apply the same fuel volatility limit to all conventional gasoline blends containing 10 percent ethanol or more, thereby making it possible for retailers nationwide to offer lower-cost, lower-carbon fuels like E15 to consumers all year round.
“The Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act is common-sense legislation that would have an immediate impact on retailers’ ability to offer drivers more lower-cost and lower-carbon choices at the fuel pump. Our own research found that a nationwide E15 standard–like the one S. 5145 would create–would create 188,000 jobs, put $36.3 billion back into the pockets of American households, and generate $66.3 billion for the U.S. GDP. We’re proud to join the hundreds of other signatories of this letter in urging Congress to quickly adopt this legislation that would benefit American families, American farms, and the American economy as a whole.”
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Background
In April 2022, President Biden issued an emergency waiver to allow the sale of E15 for the 2022 summer driving season. As a result, drivers found savings of up to nearly a dollar per gallon at the pump by filling up with E15—gasoline blended with 15 percent ethanol.
In October 2022, Growth Energy worked with ABF Economics to examine the consumer savings and economic implications of expanding E15 use to a year-round nationwide basis consistent with the President’s original announcement on sale of E15 and EPA’s subsequent series of emergency vapor pressure waivers. The report leveraged June 2021 economic impact research using updated summer retail sales data from OPIS across 29 states (May-August 2022). According to OPIS data, the average price of E15 over the May through August (post EPA Waiver) period was 16 cents per gallon below that of regular unleaded (E10) gasoline. These savings were then applied to EIA annualized gasoline consumption data below to calculate savings to consumers and associated economic impact. The full ABF report is available here.
E15 is currently sold at over 2,700 stations across 31 states, and Americans have collectively traveled more than 35 billion miles using E15. This ethanol-blended fuel is approved for cars 2001 and newer — more than 96 percent of cars on the road today.
More information on E15 is available here.