Following the announcement from the White House on lifting the ban on summertime sales of E15, two major fuel retailers have announced they will begin offering E15 at hundreds of locations. Casey's General Store and Cumberland Farms will be selling E15 by partnering with Prime the Pump, a Growth Energy partner and nonprofit organization, to provide a cleaner, more affordable fuel that has doubled its market share every year for the past five years.

Of the two retailers, Casey's has already offered E15 at many of its locations, but plans to now expand its offering of E15 to potentially more than 500 locations over the next few years. This expansion would make Casey's the largest E15 retailer in the country.

“Since first rolling out E15, we’ve seen the benefit the biofuel blend offers in terms of value for our customers and a competitive advantage for our business,” said Casey’s Director of Fuels Nathaniel Doddridge. “We’re excited to partner with Prime the Pump and Growth Energy to build on the success and accelerate our offering of E15 to even more of our customers.”

"We are thrilled Prime the Pump is entering into partnership with Casey’s and taking it to record-breaking heights to give more American drivers a cleaner burning, engine-smart option at the pump,” said Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor. “Casey’s has seen the value E15 brings to their business and to their customers, and will soon be the nation’s largest E15 retailer. This announcement underscores the critical need for lawmakers to approve year-round use of E15.”

Cumberland Farms announced their new partnership with Prime the Pump earlier this week. They plan to offer E15 at 120 locations across the Northeast's reformulated gas market, meaning they will be offer the fuel year-round as soon as its installed.

“At Cumberland Farms we strive to be the clear choice for our customers’ everyday needs and that means being on the frontlines of innovation,” said Cumberland Farms David Masuret, Senior Vice President Petroleum Supply and Operations. “As E15’s growth continued to accelerate it became an obvious choice for us to make it available to our customers. We’re proud to partner with Prime the Pump to expand our fuel offering and give our customers more choice – whether in-store or at the pump.”

“We are ecstatic to be expanding our E15 family with Cumberland Farms,” said Skor. “Cumberland Farms will spread E15 access to new territory and will be giving more American drivers a cleaner-burning, engine-smart choice at the pump which will be available uninterrupted year-round.”

For more details, contact Vice President of Market Development, Mike O'Brien.

IN COMMUNICATIONS

Your photo will replace the example photo used here on your own postcard

This week, Growth Energy officially launched our ''Thank You' campaign to make sure President Trump and our congressional champions know how grateful we are. We know there are supporters across the heartland ready to say thanks and share what year-round E15 means to them. As a way to further engage agriculture and ethanol supporters, we developed a page on the E15Now website that gives folks an easy way to tell their story and share how year-round E15 will have a positive impact on their lives. We've also updated the E15now.com website to help encourage visitors to thank their elected officials.

The form is easy to fill out and it only takes three minutes. Write a brief message, fill out your contact information and add a photo – that is it! We will then use these photos and stories to share on Growth Energy social media accounts. Additionally, we will send your stories as postcards to President Trump, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, and lawmakers from your state to show the groundswell of support for year-round E15.

In addition, be sure to check out our new TV ad running in DC and select areas in the Midwest to thank the president and our congressional champions.

We all have great stories to tell and we encourage you to share this link with your colleagues, families and community members. Visit www.E15Now.com/share-your-story today! 

For more details, contact Director of Communications, Leigh Claffey.

IN REGULATIONS

For more details, contact Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, Chris Bliley.

AROUND THE GLOBE

Canada Top Export Market for American Ethanol Second Month in a Row

Canada has historically been a very strong customer for American ethanol producers and represents around a 12.2 billion gallon gasoline market annually. Today it has a 6.2 percent blend rate with its largest province, Ontario, consuming 4.3 billion gallons of gasoline at a 7.9 percent blend rate. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service, year-to-date Canada has imported 226 million gallons of ethanol, importing over 30 million gallons in August alone.

Better yet, the Canadian government has now supported the expansion of ethanol blended into the fuel supply by mandating an E10 minimum blend by Jan. 1, 2020. Ontario alone will see an increase in 90 million gallons over that time period. With plans to increase the amount of ethanol blended across the country, the Canadian government has committed to ethanol as a way to decarbonize their economy and implement their own Liquid Fuel Carbon Fuel Standard on Jan. 1, 2022.

Overall, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation expects that the blend rate could increase to a 20.2 percent blend rate, or E20, by 2030. Most of which would be achieved by improving blending in regions like British Columbia and Alberta, which today have an annual gasoline consumption of 3.1 billion gallons.

Growth Energy is actively engaged with our international partners in developing ethanol markets abroad. To that end, Jim Miller, a Growth Energy consultant, was in Ottawa, Canada, this week for the Advanced Liquid Fuels Workshop where he participated in a number of discussions developing biofuels in the country. We will continue to keep you updated on important international market developments and our efforts in working with our international partners.

For more details, contact Senior Vice President of Global Markets, Craig Willis.

ON THE HILL

For more details, contact Vice President of Government Affairs, John Fuher.

IN OUR ASSOCIATION

E15 Now Bus Tour Continues Across Midwest to Thank Our President and Elected Leaders

The E15 now bus stopped at Quad County Corn Processors, Siouxland Energy Cooperative, Novozymes to see the Zymobile, Corn LP, and Casey' General Store this past week

The E15 now bus tour continued its journey across the Midwest last week, this time to thank the president and our congressional champions for working to achieve E15 year-round. Since the announcement, the bus has stopped in at Chief Ethanol in Hastings, Neb., and will be stopping to meet with Representative Kevin Yoder in Overland Park.

Below are just some of the passionate ethanol supporters from across the country who worked with us to make this happen, as well as photo of our E15 banner found at many ethanol plants. Please take a few moments to look over these photos as we celebrate the occasion and look ahead to get year-round sales of E15 across the finish line.

For more details, contact Vice President of Development, Kelly Manning.

AT THE TRACK

Austin Dillon Finishes 17th in No. 3 American Ethanol e15 Chevrolet

Growth Energy members and staff stopped by Talladega to enjoy the race and take photos with Austin

Austin Dillon earned a 17th place finish last weekend in the 1000Bulbs.com 500 at the Talladega Superspeedway in the No. 3 American Ethanol e15 Chevrolet. Overall, the finish was an improvement from the No. 3 team’s starting position of 21st, but early handling issues and a strategic decision to “hang back” in stage three of the race in anticipation of a large crash that never materialized ultimately kept Austin from cracking the top 10.

Our final American Ethanol No. 3 paint out of the season is on November 11 for the Can-Am 500 at ISM Raceway in Phoenix, Ariz. The Phoenix race is the penultimate race of the 2018 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series, so all eyes will be on the race as drivers make their final push to make it to the Championship Four stage of the playoffs.  

For more details, contact Manager of Communications, Austin Dabney.

The Weekly Rundown is the weekly newsletter for Growth Energy's members. It is published 51 times a year by the communications staff at Growth Energy. For more information, email team@growthenergy.org. 

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