Springfield, IL (CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS) – Gov. JB Pritzker is calling on Congress to allow the permanent year-round use of E15 gasoline — a blend of 15% ethanol and 85% gasoline that is cheaper than regular fuel and increases demand for corn.
In a letter to members of the Congressional Committee on Energy and Commerce obtained by Capitol News Illinois, Pritzker argued that year-round E15 would help spur domestic energy production and stabilize fuel markets.
Read now: Gov Pritzker Letter to Congressional Leadership
“I respectfully urge you to support legislation that ensures the permanent, nationwide availability of year-round E15,” Pritzker wrote, adding, “doing so would provide certainty to the market, strengthen rural economies, and reinforce America’s commitment to domestic energy production.”
For years, federal regulations have blocked the use of E15 during the summer months over concerns that warmer temperatures could create more smog.
In April 2022, eight Midwestern states including Illinois opted out of a waiver that gave them access to E10 fuel in hopes of forcing the hand of Congress to authorize the sale of E15. But lawmakers have yet to reach a permanent solution, and retailers and consumers in those opted-out states have had to deal with higher costs while waiting for an emergency waiver to come in every year.
Read more: Yearslong ethanol policy standoff could cost Illinois drivers at the pump yet again
Pritzker pointed to projected increases in the demand for ethanol, saying that expanded E15 access would significantly boost markets for corn growers.
“Projections indicate that year-round E15 could increase ethanol demand by 4.5 billion gallons between 2021 and 2035, resulting in an additional 1.5 billion bushels of corn demand,” he said. “At a time when farmers are still awaiting meaningful trade relief and facing elevated input costs, this kind of market expansion would provide tangible, short-term support and position Illinois as a national leader in renewable fuels.”
The governor also pointed to broader economic pressures on the agricultural sector, including the ongoing war in Iran, as a reason for already higher gas prices. According to AAA, gas prices eclipsed $4 per gallon across the country this week for the first time since 2022.
The renewed push from Pritzker, who wrote to the Environmental Protection Agency in early March about the same issue along with other governors, comes as the EPA issued yet another temporary emergency waiver to allow the sale of E15 during the summer.
“Without this action, E15 gasoline cannot be used by roughly half of the country this summer,” the EPA said in a statement announcing the issuance of the emergency waiver.
Pritzker’s letter comes as fuel retailers in Illinois and across the Midwest have warned that without a long-term fix past just the summer months, the region could face even higher gas prices since there would be different fuel standards across different states.
“Relying on administrative action does not provide the long-term certainty that farmers, producers, fuel retailers and consumers need,” Pritzker said. “We must work to remove this regulatory roadblock.”
George Alexandrakis is a graduate student in journalism with Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media and Integrated Marketing Communications, and is a fellow in its Medill Illinois News Bureau working in partnership with Capitol News Illinois.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
