American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) CEO Brian Jennings released the following statement in response to analysis Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa released today on the recent claims made by opponents of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), including Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES), which attributed its recent bankruptcy filing in part to the RFS program.
“Senator Grassley’s analysis that the RFS compliance mechanism (RIN credits) is not the primary reason for the bankruptcy filing of Philadelphia Energy Solutions is spot on. As more light is shone on the decisions PES management made between 2012 and today, it has become clear that they sacrificed RFS compliance for other investments which went bad. RIN prices might be a politically convenient excuse for PES but the inconvenient truth is that other merchant refiners who adapted their business model to blend ethanol aren’t running to bankruptcy court for protection. It would be outrageous for Congress or EPA to reform the RFS based on the mismanagement of one east coast refiner.”
Senator Grassley released an internal memorandum produced by his energy policy staff who analyzed the claims made by PES and other opponents of the RFS. The Grassley analysis reached similar conclusions as those of recent studies, including those of a four-part blog series released by the University of Pennsylvania’s Kleinman Center for Energy Policy this month. The Grassley staff analysis can be found here.
