ANKENY, Iowa -- Casey’s General Stores Inc. is adding E15, the 15% ethanol gasoline blend, to hundreds of new locations as part of a partnership with Prime the Pump.
Casey's, which has more than 2,000 c-stores, first tested E15 at 17 locations in 2017. The company plans to add E15 to potentially more than 500 locations over the next few years through its partnership with Prime the Pump, a nonprofit that assists fuel retailers with adding ethanol blends, and ethanol industry group Growth Energy.
“Since first rolling out E15, we’ve seen the benefit the biofuel blend offers in terms of value for our customers and a competitive advantage for our business,” said Nathaniel Doddridge, director of fuels for Casey’s. “We’re excited to partner with Prime the Pump and Growth Energy to build on the success and accelerate our offering of E15 to even more of our customers.”
“We are thrilled Prime the Pump is entering into partnership with Casey’s and taking it to record-breaking heights to give more American drivers a cleaner-burning, engine-smart option at the pump,” said Emily Skor, CEO of Growth Energy, Washington, D.C. “Casey’s has seen the value E15 brings to their business and to their customers, and will soon be the nation’s largest E15 retailer. This announcement underscores the critical need for lawmakers to approve year-round use of E15.”
Other retailers with high numbers of E15 sites include Kwik Trip Inc., LaCrosse, Wis., which has about 350 locations offering the ethanol blend, and Sheetz Inc., Altoona, Pa., with 240 locations.
The news comes the same week that President Trump announced he was directing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to pursue rulemaking that would waive Reid vapor pressure (RVP) restrictions on E15 from June 1 to Sept. 15 in areas that typically have summertime regulations to prevent smog. This summertime restriction has kept many c-store retailers from introducing or adding more E15 to their locations, because they must change labeling at the pumps to inform consumers that they cannot fuel up with the ethanol blend during the June-to-September time frame unless they have a flex-fuel vehicle.
E15 is available at more than 1,600 fueling sites in 30 states. York, Pa.-based Rutter’s was one of the most recent chains to add the ethanol blend. Others include Minnoco, RaceTrac, Thorntons, Protec Fuels, QuikTrip, Family Express, Holiday, Murphy USA and Cenex.
Ankeny, Iowa-based Casey's owns and operates more than 2,000 c-stores in 16 Midwestern states. It delivers approximately 90% of in-store products as well as approximately 75% of the fuel sold at its stores. The chain ranked No. 4 in CSP’s 2018 Top 202 list of the largest c-store chains by company-owned outlets.
Photograph courtesy of Growth Energy
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