The Trump administration’s decision to lift restrictions on the sale of higher-ethanol fuel again this summer could help soften the blow of higher gas prices — but it’s not the big win the biofuels industry has been seeking.
Every year since 2022, EPA has used an emergency waiver through the Clean Air Act to allow gas stations to sell E15 fuel in summer. But allowing those sales permanently is up to Congress, where a deal appears close yet still elusive.
“Consumers, fuel producers, and farmers alike desperately need Congress to pass legislation that would deliver permanent year-round access for E15 and finally break the cycle of ad hoc, stop-gap emergency waivers,” said Geoff Cooper, CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, a biofuels trade group, in a statement Wednesday.
In declaring an emergency, EPA again cited market disruptions that demand temporary solutions. During the Biden administration, the war in Ukraine drove the issue, now it’s the war in the Middle East and Iran’s threats against ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
“If ever there were justifiable conditions to merit an emergency waiver for E15, it would be now as fuel prices have skyrocketed from war with Iran and a historical oil market disruption in the Strait of Hormuz,” said Brian Jennings, CEO of the American Coalition for Ethanol.
Motorists can save between 10 cents and 40 cents a gallon by filling up with E15, which is 15 percent ethanol and 85 percent gasoline, according to industry groups. Typically gas stations sell E10, a 10 percent blend available all year.
As of Wednesday, the price spread has averaged 28 cents per gallon, according to the RFA. The organization posts real-time estimates of prices for ethanol blends.
Summer sales of E15 are limited due to air pollution rules related to fuel volatility, but the industry says there’s little difference between the blends.
The petroleum industry has been skeptical of E15 waivers. In late February, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers urged EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to use the waiver authority “judiciously,” citing the limited circumstances under which they’re allowed.
“Domestic gasoline supplies are robust,” the group told EPA in a letter Feb. 25, citing statistics from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Gasoline stocks exceed the five-year average, the AFPM said.
EPA’s action Wednesday would also put E10 and E15 fuel on more equal footing in the regulations for this summer, meaning the specifics are the same for each and can be applied nationwide. But E15 isn’t sold everywhere; California recently allowed it, but retailers haven’t adopted the fuel yet.
The Coalition for Ethanol said year-round sales of E15 have been “held hostage” by small- and medium-sized petroleum refiners opposed to the change. A Republican rural energy council in the House has been working toward a compromise and has yet to release a proposal.
