Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation allowing broader sale of E15 gasoline, a fuel blended with up to 15 percent ethanol, in California.
Senate Bill 795, authored by Senator Bob Archuleta, removes a regulatory barrier to implementing previous legislation that authorized E15 sales in the state. The bill aims to give drivers access to a lower-cost fuel option and diversify California's fuel supply.
According to a study by the University of California, Berkeley and the United States Naval Academy, introducing E15 into the market could lower gasoline prices by up to $0.20 per gallon and save Californians as much as $2.7 billion annually. The fuel would require infrastructure modifications throughout the state, including at retail gasoline stations.
E15 has been adopted in other states. As of 2023, E15 was sold at more than 3,000 stations in 31 states. A University of California, Riverside study found that increasing ethanol blending in gasoline would not affect NOx emissions and would reduce particulate emissions.