Iowans urge year-round E15 sales to cut pump prices
A Perry letter said year-round E15 could cut pump prices by 30 cents a gallon, as Iowa pushes Congress to end summer sales limits.
On June 24, Ginny Mitchell Boone used a letter to The Perry News to press for year-round E15 sales, saying the blend could trim pump prices by 30 cents or more a gallon. Boone said E15, a gasoline blend with up to 15% ethanol, should be available all year because fuel costs hit families hardest when they are driving the most.
Federal rules still generally block E15 sales from June 1 through September 15 because of Reid Vapor Pressure limits on fuel volatility. The Clean Air Act allows the Environmental Protection Agency to issue temporary waivers, and the Congressional Research Service said the agency granted nationwide E15 waivers for the 2024 summer driving season. President Donald Trump’s January 20, 2025 energy emergency order instructed EPA to consider emergency waivers for year-round E15, although the order did not require them. Congress has taken up permanent fixes in S. 593 and H.R. 1346.
The Iowa Legislature passed an E15 Access Standard in 2022 and Gov. Kim Reynolds signed it into law, requiring most retail fuel stations to offer E15 by January 1, 2026. The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship says the program has produced 380 small retailer exemptions and 87 Class 2 waivers. The same department said Iowa’s Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Program has invested more than $61 million since 2006, matched by more than $270 million from stations and fuel retailers.
The department put 2024 E15 sales at 256.7 million gallons, an all-time record and 44% above 2023. It said drivers saved more than $38.5 million that year by choosing E15, with an average discount of 15 cents per gallon versus E10. The Iowa Farm Bureau said E15 accounted for 27% of gasoline sales in Iowa in 2025 and estimated drivers saved about $61.5 million by using the blend.
Boone’s letter thanked Iowa’s U.S. House members for backing year-round E15 and pointed to Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst as the state’s lead advocates in the Senate. The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association has said the summer waiver avoids market disruption.
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