E85 Retail Fueling Locations Expanding

While Midwest states continue to add new E85 retail locations, other states are also experiencing rapid growth of E85 availability.

March 10, 2014

WASHINGTON – The number of retail fueling stations E85, has grown rapidly since 2007. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that Minnesota continues to lead the nation, with 336 E85 retail locations.

In 2007, the earliest year that state-level data became available, the majority of E85 stations were located in just five states: Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin. However, non-Midwestern states have also experienced fast growth: California, New York, Colorado, Georgia and Texas have added more than 49 retail locations selling E85 each between 2007 and 2013. As a result, the share of nationwide E85 stations in the five traditional ethanol-producing states of the Midwest fell from 54% in 2007 to 36% in 2013, reports EIA.

Both California and New York have realized some of the fastest growth in new E85 fueling stations, increasing from fewer than 12 stations combined in 2007 to more than 80 stations each in 2013. Only two states — New Hampshire and Alaska — don’t have an E85 fueling stations.

EIA reports that the number of E85 fueling stations almost doubled between 2007 to 2011, from 1,229 to 2,442, but only increased by 7% from 2011 to 2013, when the total reached 2,625. Furthermore, a majority of the nation's approximately 156,000 retail motor fuel outlets do not offer E85.

With the exception of New York, the Northeast has seen slow adoption of E85. In 2007, no retail stations sold E85 in New England, and by 2013, only 13 sites had added E85, with most located in Massachusetts.

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