Farm Director KC Sheperd visited Growth Energy, where she spoke with CEO Emily Skor about the latest biofuel industry developments. Skor shared exciting news regarding E15: “Good news in Washington for biofuels. Last week, the EPA issued a waiver to sell E15 year-round, and that’s table stakes. That’s absolutely everything! We’ve got to have drivers using higher blends of ethanol year-round. It’s good for them. It’s good for their pocketbook. They’re saving 10 to 30 cents a gallon, and it’s also great for the rural economy because we’re going to be grinding more U.S. corn.”
Despite this positive development, Skor emphasized the ongoing annual struggle. “On the E15, we fight this battle every year, and it’s incredibly frustrating. Every year, we need the EPA to issue a waiver to allow us to sell E15 year-round, because we’ve got this archaic rule that goes back to 1990, before E15 existed. What we really need is a congressional fix.”
She expressed optimism about the prospects for a permanent solution. “We’re thrilled that we can drive E15 this summer. We got the waiver again, but now all our attention is fixated on Congress. We’ve got bipartisan support from Republicans and Democrats, the House and the Senate. We’ve got a lot of momentum. We’ve got a lot of oil refiners lobbying alongside us, advocating for this because they understand they’re starting to invest in renewables. That’s a real push for us: to get some kind of legislative fix by the end of the year.”
Skor believes permanent E15 is achievable, stating, “I’m very optimistic. We have broader support than we’ve ever had. We have more momentum in Congress. We need the political will to ensure E15 is included as they’re looking at all these other major priorities.”
Skor also addressed common misconceptions about higher ethanol blends. “The biggest misconception would probably be at the consumer level, not knowing that a higher blend of ethanol is something that’s good for their car. We’re always going to be dealing with that. The good news is, as more and more retailers offer E15 and more consumers drive it, and realize their saving money, and their engine is purring beautifully. So we’re starting to change hearts and minds, but that is always going to be the biggest misconception.”
Looking at other legislative priorities, Skor highlighted the Renewable Fuel Standard and trade. “You know, the Renewable Fuel Standard is at the top of my mind. We expect the EPA to develop a proposal on the blending requirements for 2026 soon.”
“We’re being very attentive to what’s going on in the trade conversation. Last year, we exported more ethanol than ever before. There’s a global appetite for our product. We want to have fair and reciprocal trading relationships, so we support an effort to eliminate tariffs and nontariff barriers. We absolutely support that. We also don’t want to lose any markets because of counter tariffs so we’re engaged with the administration, educating them in terms of how important global exports are for us, and also educating them that if there is going to be some turbulence on that front, and if the focus is growing U.S. demand for U.S. agriculture, the fastest way to do that is to blend more ethanol.”
