Kum & Go, Iowa C-store Association Oppose Unlabeled Ethanol
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa -- The president of the Iowa Senate, Jack Kibbie, introduced legislation allowing gas stations to remove ethanol identification stickers from E10 fuel, in an effort to boost sales of the corn-based fuel, Des Moines Register reported.
Under current law, gas retailers are required to post the E10 labels, but new legislation would allow businesses to voluntarily display them, the report stated. The legislation would not apply to other ethanol-based fuels such as E85 and biodiesel.
"My goal is to increase the use of ethanol in Iowa," Kibbie told the paper. "Sometimes, people driving through Iowa on the interstates, who don't know as much about ethanol as we do, see those stickers and say, 'I don't want any of that stuff!' So they put in high octane fuel that costs 10 cents a gallon more."
The bill could be debated in the Senate as early as next week, Kibbie said.
However, a prominent convenience store operator in the state and the Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Stores of Iowa (PMCSI) organization voiced opposition to the legislation.
The more than 430-unit Kum & Go chain of convenience stores would leave the identification stickers on pumps, even if the bill passes and is signed into law, Tara Deering-Hansen, a spokeswoman for the retailer, told the Register.
"We believe our customers want to know this information," she said.
In addition, most of the 1,500 retailers in the PMCSI association would leave the stickers on, according to president Dawn Carlson.
"We're not sure why (Kibbie) is doing this," she told the paper. "We didn't ask for it. We think it will confuse consumers. People have a right to know what they are buying. For whatever reason, 25 percent of consumers are choosing not to buy ethanol, even if it means paying a dime more a gallon for 87 octane."
Under current law, gas retailers are required to post the E10 labels, but new legislation would allow businesses to voluntarily display them, the report stated. The legislation would not apply to other ethanol-based fuels such as E85 and biodiesel.
"My goal is to increase the use of ethanol in Iowa," Kibbie told the paper. "Sometimes, people driving through Iowa on the interstates, who don't know as much about ethanol as we do, see those stickers and say, 'I don't want any of that stuff!' So they put in high octane fuel that costs 10 cents a gallon more."
The bill could be debated in the Senate as early as next week, Kibbie said.
However, a prominent convenience store operator in the state and the Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Stores of Iowa (PMCSI) organization voiced opposition to the legislation.
The more than 430-unit Kum & Go chain of convenience stores would leave the identification stickers on pumps, even if the bill passes and is signed into law, Tara Deering-Hansen, a spokeswoman for the retailer, told the Register.
"We believe our customers want to know this information," she said.
In addition, most of the 1,500 retailers in the PMCSI association would leave the stickers on, according to president Dawn Carlson.
"We're not sure why (Kibbie) is doing this," she told the paper. "We didn't ask for it. We think it will confuse consumers. People have a right to know what they are buying. For whatever reason, 25 percent of consumers are choosing not to buy ethanol, even if it means paying a dime more a gallon for 87 octane."