BY SUSAN ERLER, Times of Northwest Indiana
serler@nwitimes.com
HAMMOND | Fuel retailer Gas City began pumping E-85 at a second Northwest Indiana location last month.
And though sales of the ethanol blend continued strong this week at the chain's first E-85 pump, in Hobart, they've met with lukewarm reception at the newly opened pump in Hammond.
It's not clear whether a drop in the price of regular gasoline is playing a part, Gas City District Manager JoEllen Jostef said.
The Gas City chain was the first locally to offer the ethanol blend alternative to petroleum in mid-October at its Hobart store on U.S. 30.
A second pump opened just over a week ago at the Gas City on Calumet Avenue, just north of Interstate 80/94, in Hammond.
E-85 sells for about 30 cents per gallon less than regular gasoline at both Gas City locations.
The price of regular gasoline statewide dropped about 40 cents per gallon over the past month.
"In Hobart that hasn't made a difference at all," Jostef said.
Sales of E-85 at the Hobart Gas City have held steady at about 500 gallons a day since the station dedicated a single pump to the blend last month, Jostef said.
E-85 is a mixture of 15 percent petroleum and 85 percent ethanol, a clean burning renewable fuel typically made from corn or soybeans that has been touted as an alternative to Middle Eastern oil.
Fewer than 100 gallons a day of E-85 are selling at the Calumet Avenue location, Jostef said. "We don't have a big turnover on it."
Lower gas prices could be part of the reason, said Michelle Kautz, communications director for the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition, whose Web site lists 530 stations nationwide selling the blend.
The drop in gas prices won't hamper plans for another 2,000 E-85 gas stations nationwide, Kautz said.
"We're not worried about it," she said. "We're happy to see gasoline prices go down. But who knows what's in store for the future? We don't see them going below $2 a gallon for awhile."
The Gas City chain, with 11 stations throughout Indiana, will continue to add E-85 pumps at some of its stations, including one in St. John within a few weeks, Jostef said.
Selling at a competitive price wasn't the only reason for installing E-85 pumps, Jostef said.
"We wanted to give people the option, those that were capable of running (E-85)," she said.
Close to 5 million U.S. vehicles currently are equipped to handle the blend.