E85Forum.com

Revision · Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Posts: 194 Location: Carol Stream, IL

I'm tired of waiting for government and Ford and GM to get moving and install some more E85 stations. As most of you know the push to get more E85 pumps at various stations is blocked by some internal oil company regulations concerning what kinds of product can be sold under the various oil companies' canopy. Which means that the oil companies make it difficult for individual stations to sell different types of fuel including E85 if the oil company name is used on the overhead roof over the pumps. (The gas stations have to place the E85 pumps far away from that roof).

I had a quick brain storm and figured that we need to get another corporation involved that might be able to move quicker than the above because they already sell gasoline and they shouldn't be restricted by the oil company regulations because they sell under their own logo. Normally this would mean privately owned mom and pop stations, but those stations seem to not have the money or inclination to jump on the E85 bandwagon.

Back to my idea. I recently sent an email to Jewel Osco. As some of you have noticed and may have shunned, some Jewel stores have their own gasoline station which they sell to the public. This gas seems to be the cheapest they can get their hands on and is normally the same as what is pumped from the BP stations or other name brand depending on location. But because the gas is sold under the Jewel logo, there should be less resistance to putting an E85 pump in there.

I see this as a way for Jewel to jump in on the Green Theme, Help America, reduce Oil bandwagon and get some advertising because they will be selling E85 while everyone else is still scratching their skulls. Another plus is that we will get more E85 pumps at competitive prices..
Win/Win situation.

So if we can get some more people to send in a letter/email to Jewel and just query them and show interest in getting Jewel to start selling E85. Don't bring around the political stuff or the regulations that other gas stations need to follow. Just show interest and lets see if we can get the corporate interested.

http://www.jewelosco.com then click on Contact Us.

or

http://www.jewelosco.com/eCommerceWeb/AboutAlbertsonsAction.do?action=getContactUs

specialgreen · Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 11:04 pm Post subject:

I wonder if Costco might be interested? They sell gas, similar to Jewel-Osco (which is not in my state).

In my area (Minneapolis/St.Paul), the most-common E-85 station marquees are Holiday ( 18 ), Kwik-Trip (5) and Freedom (3). If you have a franchise of one of those chains nearby, your local franchise owner might be more open to suggestion.

hotrod · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 872 Location: Colorado

Walmart would be another natural vendor, given their promotions regarding helping the community and such. Some of their stores have fuel islands on thier store property. They also have the financial clout to get pretty much anything they want if they were motivated.

I also do not have any outlets in my state, selling under the Jewel name but have seen a couple of Albertsons stores with fuel islands.

Larry

compudude86 · Joined: 20 Feb 2006 Posts: 47 Location: algonquin, IL

lol, i currently work for walmart!! that would make them look a little less evil Twisted Evil

im also looking into getting a grant to start an ethanol production facility, somewhere in il.
_________________
running a 95 buick century on e-85, yes it can be done!!

Revision · Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Posts: 194 Location: Carol Stream, IL

Here are the early responses to the letters sent in to Jewel-Osco.
Let's get more of those letters sent in.

---

Thank you for contacting Jewel-Osco Customer Care. We have received
your e-mail regarding the possibility of our Jewel Fuel locations
carrying E85 fuel.

Please be advised we have forwarded your inquiry to our Division
Customer Care Department, as we do not have the information readily
available.

Again, thank you for contacting Jewel-Osco Customer Care. If we can
provide any information or be of service to you in the future, please
feel free to contact us.

Sincerely,

Jeff B.
Jewel-Osco Customer Care Representative

--------

Thank you for your inquiry regarding our fuel centers and including E85, 85% ethanol and 15% fuel gasoline. At this time, we don’t have any fuel centers on the books and no plans to convert. Sorry for the inconvenience. Thank you for inquiring.

Sincerely,

Nancy Orland
Manager, Customer Service
Jewel-Osco Division
Office: (708) 531-6243
Fax: (708) 531-6172
Email: Nancy.Orland@albertsons.com

hotrod · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 872 Location: Colorado

I also got a generic response back from them, so we will have to see if they reconsider conversion plans over the next few months.

Larry

compudude86 · Joined: 20 Feb 2006 Posts: 47 Location: algonquin, IL

the other place to start flooding is the nevc website, theres a form to send an email to them with yuor city saying you want e-85, im sure they help some, ive noticed its a lot of marathon stations here in il carrying e-85, and part of my group activity is to raise awareness and get more people on the side of e-85
_________________
running a 95 buick century on e-85, yes it can be done!!

Revision · Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Posts: 194 Location: Carol Stream, IL

Well... Color me green...

MinnesotaJoe · Joined: 21 Apr 2006 Posts: 1

93escort · Joined: 26 Apr 2006 Posts: 1 Location: San Marcos Texas

Ive noticed that HEB here in Texas are in the gas station busness ! Might be another one to consider. rdg

Revision · Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Posts: 194 Location: Carol Stream, IL

Indiana E85 users rejoice.
Meijers opens more E85 sites in Indiana.

http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2006/05/11/006515.html

(I've already started writing letters to Meijers to open some E85 stations in Illinios!)

jachristner · Joined: 12 Oct 2005 Posts: 64 Location: Kokomo, IN

Kroger/Payless is another chain that could be promising. They have a lot of stores with fuel centers.

Revision · Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Posts: 194 Location: Carol Stream, IL

Alright... Which one of you bastages wrote to Walmart again? Confused

Well.. Congrats! Shocked

Read news article about Walmart considering carrying E85...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060601/ap_on_bi_ge/ethanol_wal_mart_1

hotrod · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 872 Location: Colorado

Very interesting !!! Very Happy

Another interesting note here, Per NEVC, The state of Florida has made some fuel regulation changes to allow public sale of E85 in Florida. There were several fuel outlets that had tried to open public pumps for E85 but the way their regs were written E85 was prohibited for public sale.

Perhaps the citrus growers are seeing a secondary market for citrus that otherwise is not able to be sold, not to mention possible sugar cane.

Also Iowa is putting in place a renewable fuel standard that is discribed as an aggressive, accountable renewable fuels standard (RFS) starting at 10% in 2009 and increasing to 25% by 2019. With the passage of House Bill HF 2754 and its companion appropriation bill, HF 2759.

This makes the second state that is pushing for a bump in maximum allowable ethanol in general circulation fuels. This is the sort of pressure that will move the auto manufactures toward warrantee standards and compatibiliy for higher ethanol blends in all their car lines.

Larry

ender · Joined: 12 May 2006 Posts: 15 Location: minneapolis