Failed Promises on E15 Expansion
- Dave Price
- Feb 27
- 2 min read
Missed deadline led to another missed deadline, which is only fueling frustration from agricultural industry groups and farmers who keep waiting for the Trump administration and Congress to approve year-round sales of E15 fuel nationwide.
Previously, both the Trump and the Biden administration have approved temporary E15 sales through the summer, bypassing decades-long restrictions that claimed smog concerns from the use of higher ethanol fuel over the summer months.
But the industry, which has produced ethanol like never before, wants permanence and a greater share of the overall fuel supply. It also faces greater competition from Brazil and Argentina for global customers.
E15 Producers Wait on Congress
A Republican in the White House
Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives
Republican majority in the U.S. Senate
Those three forces, many farmers expected, would finally lead to new opportunities for corn producers.
If only…
“We saw glimpses of our industry’s potential last year, and 2025 was another good year for the U.S. ethanol industry,” Renewable Fuels Association President & CEO Geoff Cooper said at the group’s annual conference in Orlando, Florida, on Wednesday.
Cooper lamented failed promises to deliver a commitment to year-round sales of E15 fuel, which could have added billions of gallons in ethanol demand.
“But we could have done so much more, if simply given the opportunity,” Cooper said. “More to lower fuel prices for consumers. More to reduce reliance on imported petroleum.
More to clean up the air and reduce emissions. And more to create jobs and boost the farm economy.”
E15 Legislation Delays
This year has brought a list of target dates for legislation to be unveiled for Congress. But those dates have come and gone with the final one failing this week: February 25.
“No more excuses on E15.”
– Iowa Corn Growers Association post on social media.
It has been a rollercoaster of disappointment. Congressional Republicans could have included E15 language in a funding bill in January but ended up taking it out. But then, congressional leaders formed the Rural Domestic Energy Council tasked with crafting compromise between the ethanol industry and small and mid-sized refineries that want exemptions from the higher ethanol blending requirements.
Rural Domestic Energy Council
U.S. Representative Randy Feestra, a Republican from ag-heavy Northwest Iowa had told several reporters in his state last week that he expected to release the compromise this week. That did not happen.
Feenstra, who is running for governor in 2026, faces additional pressure to deliver, especially for those throughout his state. Some of those people felt optimistic last month after hearing President Trump during a campaign rally in the Des Moines suburb of Clive tell the audience about year-round E15 sales legislation, “I will sign it without delay.”
But Congress has yet to give him anything to prove that promise.
Instead, the president’s words may give voters something to think about this November if Republicans never come through with the legislation.
“I hope you remember us for the midterms.”
– President Donald Trump, January 27, 2026
