The Iowa Secretary of Agriculture comments on the recent federal regulation to sell a certain type of gasoline.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made a rule change and is going to allow E-15 to be sold all year, starting in 2025. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig was pleased when that announcement was made, however he was disappointed that selling E-15 gasoline wasn’t starting this year. He points out the need for E-15 as he reviews the data from last year’s fueling season.

“We had a 50 percent increase in unleaded 88 (or E-15). Iowans, when given a choice, will buy it (E-15). And if you take just the difference between the cost of unleaded 88 or E-15, and ten percent ethanol blend, Iowans saved up to $45 million in fuel costs last year just because they had access to that blend.”

Naig expands on that to encompass the larger picture.

“In this economy when food and everything is costing more and especially if you’re like me and you’ve got multiple drivers on the road like I do with some teenage school drivers, you know every dollar matters. We know that there’s a significant benefit to burning E-15 in this state, not just for the industry and farmers, but for consumers.”  

Naig is hopeful that emergency waivers will happen this year for E-15 to be sold this summer, just as it has been done in previous years, until E-15 is available every year starting next year.