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Ethanol producers ask House committee for grant to expand E15 retail access in HB 96
Summary
Regis Sherry, general manager of POET Bioprocessing Marion, asked the House Agriculture Committee to add a grant under HB 96 to help retailers offer E15 gasoline and increase consumer access and savings.
Regis Sherry, general manager of POET Bioprocessing Marion and a representative of the Ohio Ethanol Producers Association, asked the House Agriculture Committee to support an amendment to HB 96 creating a grant program to increase retail access to E15 gasoline in Ohio.
Sherry told the committee the proposed grant would offset conversion costs for retailers—signage, nozzles and calibration—and suggested a 5¢ per-gallon incentive paid to retailers for each gallon of E15 sold. He said Ohio has relatively few E15 retail outlets compared with other Midwestern states and estimated 66 locations statewide. “This grant program will incentivize more retailers to consider offering E15,” he said, and argued that broader availability could pass savings to consumers: “At least 25¢ per gallon” in savings compared with E10, he said.
Committee members asked about the program’s total cost, how many stations currently sell E15 and whether mainstream chains would participate. Sherry said he did not have a state-level total cost estimate available on the record but offered to provide it. He said the intent is to help retailers of all sizes convert to or offer E15 and that the grant would bring down infrastructure barriers to entry.
No committee vote occurred during the testimony.
