IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH
Fuel retailers and trucking groups criticized the latest version of a proposal to set state biofuel standards, clashing during a Thursday morning meeting with agriculture groups that support the bill.
“This bill, as written, is detrimental to the retail industry and consumers at large,” said Jason McDermott, owner of several Iowa convenience stores and the McDermott Oil Company.
Lawmakers plan to amend Senate File 549 to match a proposal in the House by Rep. Lee Hein, R-Monticello. The bill will require Iowa fuel retailers to sell E-15, gasoline with a 15% ethanol blend, by 2026.
Farming groups supported the proposal. Iowa is the nation’s top provider of both corn and ethanol, but much of Iowa’s ethanol is sold out of state. Mindy Larsen-Poldberg, director of government relations for the Iowa Corn Growers Association, said the group “enthusiastically and wholeheartedly” supported the bill.