Doyle Urges Legislature to Reconsider Plan to Add E-85 Pumps

Thursday, August 17, 2006

From the Wisconsin Ag Connection:

One day after suspending the state's minimum markup law for ethanol-blended gasoline, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle is asking the Legislature to give another thought to requiring more state gas stations to sell the renewable fuel.

"Making sure ethanol remains more affordable than petroleum is a good first step, but we also need to make sure that consumers can have access to ethanol based fuels like E-85," Governor Doyle said. "I urge the Republican legislature to reconsider my plan to double access to E-85 in Wisconsin by providing incentives to station owners to offer this cheaper renewable fuel."

On Tuesday, Doyle said that ethanol based fuel is not subject to minimum markup law enforcement and directed the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection not pursue any actions against sellers of ethanol blended fuel.

So how has that action affected prices on Wednesday? Not much, according to Wisconsin Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association President Bob Bartlett, who says retailers must pass on to consumers to make up their expenses.

"I'm sure it does sound good. Everybody would like to get energy at less cost, and that includes Wisconsin's independent retailers. What this doesn't recognize is the actual cost those retailers have to pay to get the products," Bartlett said.

The average price of a gallon of gas in Wisconsin was $3.17 Wednesday, down .2 of a cent from Tuesday, when Doyle issued the order.

In March, Governor Doyle launched the Promoting Our Wisconsin Energy Resources Initiative to promote energy independence. But three months later, the Joint Finance Committee rejected a vote to provide $335,000 to fund POWER Initiative projects that would increase the number of E-85 fueling stations, increase use of E-85 in local government vehicle fleets, and promote the use of E-85 fuel.

Currently, there are only 35 stations with E-85 pumps in Wisconsin.