May 1, 2015
HAWAII MOVES TOWARD ENDING ETHANOL REQUIREMENT
Members of Hawaii’s House and Senate agreed yesterday to compromise language that would eliminate Hawaii’s mandate for 10% ethanol blends, effective Dec.31, 2015.
SB717 was introduced in January and was the subject of hearings in multiple committees. At one point, it was amended to delay the ending of the mandate until 2050. But the version reported from the joint Conference Committee yesterday returned the date to the original proposal of the end of this year.
Votes in both the House and Senate could occur as early as May 5.
The bill states the following: “The legislature finds that in some states the mandated use of renewable fuels has created some economic benefit because those states are able to produce or cheaply import renewable fuels. However, despite dozens of biomass, biodiesel, and ethanol facilities that have been proposed for Hawaii, no ethanol plants currently exist in the State. Since 2006, Hawaii has required that gasoline sold in the State include ten per cent ethanol. This requirement of blending ethanol into Hawaii’s gasoline does not produce any economic benefit for the State; further, the import of ethanol creates an
economic burden for state residents.”
Gasoline sold in Hawaii is conventional, not RFG, with a 9.0 psi RVP maximum from June 1 through Sept. 15 at the retail level. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, gasoline demand in Hawaii was about 1.19 million gal/day in 2014, virtually unchanged from 2012 or 2013.
–Kevin Adler, kadler@opisnet.com
Published by Oil Price Information Service, www.opisnet.com
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