No. 291, August 31, 2023

TOP STORY

Growth Energy filed briefs to intervene in three cases this week in support of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its decisions to deny small-refinery exemptions (SREs) for refiners seeking to avoid complying with their blending obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

“Petitioners have tried over and over again to avoid complying with the RFS because less biofuel in America’s fuel mix means more money for them,” said Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor. “Thankfully, EPA has continued to rightly deny SREs, having demonstrated again and again that refiners have no good reason not to meet their blending obligations. In this week’s filings, Growth Energy continues to seek to defend the RFS—the nation’s most successful climate policy to date—from any attempts to weaken it.”

The cases are Calumet Montana Refining LLC v. EPA in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and San Antonio Refinery LLC v. EPA and Wynnewood Refining Co. LLC v. EPA, both in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Read Growth Energy’s briefs in Calumet here, San Antonio Refinery here, and Wynnewood here.

For more information, please contact General Counsel Joe Kakesh.

WEEKLY EIA DATA

Last week, domestic ethanol demand was 14.2 BGY, up 1.8% compared to a week ago. The EIA-reported gas demand was up 1.8% from last week, at 139.0 BGY.  The 4-week average ethanol and gas demand are 14.1 and 138.5 BGY.

Ethanol production was 15.4 BGY last week, down 3.9% versus the week before, and 2.8% less than the 4-week average in 2019. Midwest production was down 4.0% (-11.8 MG) versus a week ago, and average production in the other regions was down 1.8% (-0.3 MG). Capacity utilization of plants online was 89.3% overall, 90.3% in the Midwest, and 75.0% on average, elsewhere, excluding 1,505 MGY of capacity shutdown at 29 ethanol plants for other than maintenance (details on pg. 29). On an installed capacity basis, utilization was 83.6% overall, 87.9% in the Midwest and 45.7% in the other regions.

Exports were an estimated 27.1 MG last week based on 120 MG/mo. of exports forecast for August. The EIA reported no ethanol imports last week.

Overall inventory was down 6.4 MG last week. EIA-counted stocks decreased 49.6 MG, and regional changes were: East (-2 MG), Gulf (-23 MG) and West (-1 MG) Coasts and the Midwest (-23 MG). In-transit inventory increased 43.2 MG.

Based on the total inventory of 1,793 MG on August 25th and the 4-week avg. domestic demand, there were 46.3 days of supply, down 0.2 days versus a week ago. Including the 4-week avg. of net exports, there were 42.1 days of supply, down 0.2 days versus a week ago.

For more information, please contact Jake Comer.

WORKING FOR YOU

UPCOMING EVENTS

Growth Energy Biofuels Summit

Washington, DC

September 11-14, 2023

Learn More

IN GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS

From left to right, Sen. Tim Scott, Kelly Nieuwenhuis, and Rep. Randy Feenstra.

This week we joined Sen. Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) as he toured Siouxland Energy in Sioux Center, Iowa. Kelly Nieuwenhuis, Congressman Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa), Siouxland Energy CAO Leah Holverson, and Siouxland Energy team members showed Senator Scott around the plant before a discussion on the importance of ethanol policies like year-round E15, the RFS, and carbon modeling for future markets. During the discussion, Senator Scott shared his support of access to higher blends in order to reduce reliance on foreign oil, a strong RFS, and ethanol as a vital part of bolstering rural economies. Thank you Siouxland for hosting us!

E15/UNL88 is available at retailers across the U.S. this summer thanks to a successful campaign by Growth Energy and the biofuels industry to secure an emergency waiver from the EPA. This was a welcome development, but Growth Energy continues to make the case for year-round E15 to the EPA, on Capitol Hill, and in state legislatures around the country. If you see an example of significant cost savings at a fuel station near you, take a picture (like the ones above) and share it with us! We'll put your photos to good use telling the story of how E15 saves drivers money.

Please email your photos to kwebster@growthenergy.org.  

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

IN REGULATORY AFFAIRS

Earlier this month, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) held a workshop on changes to their Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) California Transportation Supply (CATS) modeling.  Among the changes was the recognition of the value of carbon sequestration to already-approved fuels with higher blends of ethanol. Growth Energy Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Chris Bliley submitted comments, noting CARB’s recognition of carbon sequestration’s value to ethanol can be fully realized with the approval of E15 in California. Also submitted was data from a CATS modeling study commissioned earlier this year showing no long-term impact to LCFS credit prices with E15 approval.

Growth Energy will continue to monitor this issue and keep you updated. 

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) last week issued a notice of intent (NOI) to provide funding made available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for DOE’s Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation (CIFIA) Future Growth Grants program, focused on expanding carbon dioxide (CO2) transportation infrastructure to help reduce CO2 emissions across the United States.

Meeting the Biden Administration’s goal of a net-zero emissions economy by 2050 will require accelerating the responsible development and deployment of technology to capture CO2 emissions from industrial operations and power generation and to remove CO2 directly from the atmosphere. 

DOE anticipates issuing the funding opportunity announcement in Q4 of 2023. Read the full announcement here. 

This week, the U.S. Treasury Department and IRS released FAQs and proposed rules following their earlier guidance on prevailing wage and registered apprenticeship (PWA) provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

The proposed regulations would provide guidance to taxpayers intending to claim the increased credit or deduction amounts and those intending to transfer increased credit amounts. Additionally, the proposed regulations would provide guidance for taxpayers that initially fail to satisfy the PWA requirements but seek to cure the failure by complying with certain correction and penalty procedures. Finally, the proposed regulations would provide rules concerning specific PWA recordkeeping and reporting requirements.

The rulemaking has a public hearing on November 21, 2023 and a 60-day comment period.

For more information, please contact Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Chris Bliley.

IN OUR ASSOCIATION

On Wednesday, Growth Energy General Counsel Joe Kakesh sat on a panel at the North American SAF Conference and Expo in Minneapolis, Minn. Closing out the conference, the panel discussion, titled "Perfecting the Interplay of Policy, Incentives and Financing to Increase the Chances of Project Success," was moderated by Growth's Senior Vice President of Development Kelly Manning. Alongside three other industry experts, Kakesh provided insight into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF's) climate benefits.

For more information, please contact Senior Vice President of Development Kelly Manning.

IN MARKET DEVELOPMENT

In February 2023, it was announced that retailer Kum & Go was looking for a buyer for its chain of convenience stores. On August 29, Maverik became that buyer as it officially acquired the company this week. Both retailers have 400 stores each, and with an operating area that will reach 20 states, their geography is complementary. Kum & Go is a reliable seller of E15. 

Read more about the acquisition here. 

For more information, please contact Senior Vice President of Market Development Mike Lorenz.

The Weekly Rundown is the weekly newsletter for Growth Energy's members. It is published weekly by the communications staff at Growth Energy. For more information, email team@growthenergy.org or visit our website GrowthEnergy.org. 

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