No. 9; Nov. 29, 2017 
AT THE AGENCIES EPA DECISION TO KEEP POINT OF OBLIGATION UNCHANGED PROTECTS CONSUMER CHOICE 
Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a decision to maintain the point of obligation under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
In response, Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor issued the following press statement: “We commend the EPA for laying to rest a year of attempts from a small group of oil refiners who have been using every trick in the book to change the established rules for tracking compliance with the Renewable Fuel Standard. This one-sided handout would have added regulatory red tape, created havoc in the marketplace, and denied consumers access to more affordable fuels with higher blends of biofuels like E15. Growth Energy has led the charge to oppose this effort from the very beginning, and we are grateful to our allies in Congress and to Administrator Pruitt for working with us to protect over 12 years of investment under the RFS. The RFS is America’s single most successful energy policy and continually works to save consumers money, protect the environment, drive rural growth, and secure U.S. independence." For more details contact Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Chris Bliley. WORKING FOR YOU ON THE HILL News on Tax Reform and Nominations IN REGULATIONS Final 2018 RVOs to Be Announced Thursday IN THE PRESS Standing Up for a Strong RFS New Name for Consumer-Facing Website: GetBiofuel.com AT OUR EVENTS AT THE PUMP Getting to Know... Minnoco UPCOMING EVENTS Alternative Fuels Seminar Dec. 6-8, 2017 Phoenix, Ariz. ON THE HILL News on Tax Reform and Nominations This week, the Senate will consider their version of comprehensive tax reform legislation, which reduces corporate tax rates and includes a 17.4 percent deduction on pass-through income. If approved, the House and Senate would then negotiate a final tax reform package. Government funding for the new year is also being discussed in Congress, as well as key tax extensions, including the cellulosic tax credit and biodiesel tax credit. We will continue to work with our biofuel champions on the Hill to get these priorities included in legislation under consideration over the next few weeks. Additionally, at 10:00am EST today, Wednesday, Nov. 29, the Senate Environment and Public Works committee is scheduled to vote on the nominations of Kathleen Hartnett White to be a Member of the White House's Council on Environmental Quality, and Andrew Wheeler to be Deputy Administrator for the EPA. You can watch live at epw.senate.gov. For more details contact Senior Director of Government Affairs John Fuher. IN REGULATIONS Final 2018 RVOs to Be Announced Thursday While the EPA has not confirmed a date, various news outlets have reported that the 2018 final renewable volume obligation levels (RVOs) will be announced on Thursday, Nov. 30, which is the legal deadline. The EPA is also set to release 2019 quotas for biodiesel. We will be sending out a Member Alert as soon as the news comes! For more details contact Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Chris Bliley. IN THE PRESS Standing up for a strong RFS Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor authored a letter this week that was published on The Progressive Farmer's website on Monday, Nov. 28. In it, she recaps what has been a very busy fall, full of several oil industry proposals designed to roll back competition from U.S. biofuels produced from farm crops and agricultural residue, like cobs and stalks. But with the help of our champions in Congress, the EPA took a big step back from a very destructive path by rejecting a proposal to move the point of obligation. Read the rest of Emily's letter here. New Name for Consumer-Facing Website: GetBiofuel.com This week, we officially changed GetEthanol.com to GetBiofuel.com (and also switched over the related Facebook and Twitter handles)! Research has shown us that the term “biofuel” is more appealing and approachable to our target audiences. This name change will strengthen Growth Energy’s ability to draw consumers to our website and social media platforms, where they can learn more about ethanol and we can reinforce their understanding that ethanol is a biofuel. We still own the GetEthanol.com website address, so all traffic to that site is now redirected to the new GetBiofuel.com. Along with this name change, we'll be conducting a social media campaign boosted by Facebook and Twitter advertising over the coming weeks. Our campaign will be tied to holiday travel during this busy time of year, and we plan to direct consumers to GetBiofuel.com to learn more about how ethanol is a smart choice that’s better for their engine, the environment, and their wallet – as well as where to find the closest E15 station. 
For more details contact Vice President of Communications & Public Affairs Chris Hogan. 
AT OUR EVENTS Annual Tobi Award Nominations 
Growth Energy is proud to celebrate the contributions of some our industry’s leading champions with the presentation of the annual Tobi Awards at the 2018 Executive Leadership Conference in February. Tobi Award honorees include men and women who show passion and dedication in the following key industry areas: Advocacy, Market Development, Membership, Public Affairs, Get Biofuel, and Technical. Nominations have traditionally been made by Growth Energy staff who work closely with these individuals, but this year, we’d like to take nominations directly from our members! If you’d like to nominate someone, please send Director of Operations & Programming Kitty Loyd his or her name, organization, and a brief description of why he or she should receive the award. We also want to recognize the 2017 winners, who continue to work hard for the biofuels industry every day:
For more details contact Director of Operations & Programming Kitty Loyd. AT THE PUMP Getting to Know... Minnoco Growth Energy is happy to partner with a number of market-leading retailers who sell E15 fuel. A new feature you'll see from time to time in the Weekly Rundown will be a profile of one of these retailers. This week: Minnoco! There are 36 Minnoco locations that currently sell E15 and E85. Minnoco launched the first site to offer E15 in the fall of 2013 when the Minnesota Service Station Association (MSSA) decided to embark on promoting their own brand of fuel as an additional option in the marketplace. The Growth Energy market development team actually helped create the Minnoco brand! The biggest challenge for their business is growing the number of fuel retail sites as well as finding infrastructure needed to continue growing the sales of E15 and E85. E15 has grown Minnoco’s business! Retail sites have also seen an increase of as much as 30 percent in volume, which translates to increased store sales. Minnoco has promoted E15 through direct marketing, email blasts, print media, brand ambassadors, and other promotions while supporting $.03 to $.10 spread. 
According to Lance Klatt, executive director of the MSSA, customers love E15, and as a matter of fact, E15 represents 33 percent of Minnoco’s fuel sales. He also says that customers like having another fuel option, plus the fuel is seen as new and trendy. According to Lance, “E15 is a great choice for retailers, but even better for the consumer because it supports our local economy while promoting the future of fueling. Growth Energy helps us generate maximum sales of E15 and E85 by providing us with the needed support to effectively market to consumers.” For more details contact Vice President of Market Development Mike O'Brien.
The Weekly Rundown is the weekly newsletter for Growth Energy's members, published by the communications staff at Growth Energy. For more information, email team@growthenergy.org. You're receiving this newsletter because you've subscribed to Growth Energy's The Weekly Rundown. Not interested anymore? Unsubscribe instantly. Copyright © 2017 Growth Energy. |
