CINCINNATI -- VeraSun Energy Corp., one of the nation's largest ethanol producers, and The Kroger Co. have opened 20 VE85 fueling locations at Kroger convenience stores in Ohio and Kentucky. Kroger becomes the first national retailer to offer VeraSun's branded E85, a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline for flexible-fuel vehicles (FFVs).
With the addition of the 20 Kroger locations, VeraSun now has more than 100 retail fueling stations in 11 states and the District of Columbia selling VE85.
Based in Cincinnati, Kroger currently [image-nocss] operates almost 2,500 supermarkets and multi-department stores in 31 states. The company also has more than 750 c-stores and 650 supermarket fuel centers. Currently, Kroger has 40 locations offering E85 in the states of Texas, Ohio and Kentucky.
The opportunity to offer VE85 at various Kroger locations is an important initiative in meeting our country's growing demand for renewable fuels, said Geoffrey Covert, president of Kroger's Cincinnati/Dayton division. As the number of [FFVs] continues to increase, partnering with VeraSun allows us to offer our customers convenient fueling options.
As a result of the VeraSun and Kroger partnership, Enterprise Rent-A-Car will designate four additional rental locations as VE85/FlexFuel branches, including one of its primary locations in Cincinnati. Enterprise and VeraSun announced a partnership last month whereby Enterprise committed to concentrate FFVs around select VE85 fueling locations. A quarter of the rental fleet in these new locations will be GM FlexFuel Vehicles. Enterprise will provide ethanol and FFV education materials and maps to Kroger's Ohio VE85 fueling locations inside each automobile.
Consumers are becoming more interested in experiencing the benefits of fueling with higher blends of ethanol like VE85, said Bill Honnef, VeraSun's senior vice president of strategic initiatives. By harnessing the drive and commitment of world-class companies like Kroger, Enterprise and General Motors, we are making significant strides in expanding the availability VE85 and improving consumer education.
General Motors and Enterprise Rent-A-Car joined VeraSun and Kroger to make the announcement at a Kroger location in Cincinnati on Tuesday morning. Motorists were able to purchase VE85 for 85 cents per gallon from 7:30 a.m. until 9:30 a.m. The first 100 customers were given a $25 Kroger refueling card and representatives from VeraSun, Kroger, GM and Enterprise were on site for the official announcement.
VE85 was launched in May 2005 with seven stations in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and is now available in Chicago, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Pittsburgh. In June, VeraSun, GM and Enterprise partnered to open the first E85 retail location in Washington, D.C.
VeraSun, headquartered in Brookings, S.D., is a leading producer of renewable fuel. The company has four operating ethanol production facilities in Aurora, S.D.; Fort Dodge, Iowa; Charles City, Ia.; and Linden, Ind. Five facilities are currently under construction in Hartley, Iowa; Welcome, Minn.; Reynolds, Ind.; Albion, Neb.; and Bloomingburg, Ohio. Upon completion of the new facilities, VeraSun will have an annual production capacity of approximately one billion gallons by the end of 2008.
Earlier this month, GM, Iowa Governor Chet Culver and Kum & Go LC celebrated plans for the addition of 19 new E85 ethanol fueling locations to be opened throughout the state by the end of 2008. The new fueling locations will be promoted by GM as part of a broader, ongoing national GM campaign to boost the use and awareness of ethanol-based E85 fuel in the United States.
The announcement was celebrated at the Iowa State Fair.
As part of the collaboration, GM is promoting the availability of the fuel with consumer and dealer outreach. Local GM dealers will help promote these new refueling stations whenever customers purchase flex-fuel vehicles.
In an effort to expand the use of alternative transportation fuels, the U.S. Department of Energy is supporting this effort by providing the largest funding awarded to any other state last year. The funding will support Kum & Go's plans to complete a total of 19 new E85 ethanol fueling sites at existing retail stations in Iowa and an additional five new fueling sites at retail stations in South Dakota and Minnesota.
We know how much our customers care about the environment, and we're proud to offer them the choice for renewable fuels at the pump, said Kyle Krause, president and CEO of West Des Moines, Iowa-based Kum & Go. Our new sites are helping make E85 ethanol more available to more of our customers throughout the state.
The announcement is part of a nationwide effort by GM to help grow the E85 ethanol fueling station infrastructure. Since May of 2005, GM has announced partnerships in a total of 13 states to locate more than 250 E85 fueling pumps at stations around the country.
For the 2007 model year, GM offers 14 E85 ethanol-capable vehicle models, which it said is more than any other automaker, with annual production of more than 400,000 vehicles.
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