In This Issue:

FYI Newsletter Volume 10, Issue 1, February 1, 2005 

•  Prices Drive Record Exxon Mobil Profit •  Three E85 Facilities Opening in MO •  NEVC Attends Farm Bureau Conference •  NEVC Annual Meeting in Miami •  GM and NEVC to Sponsor Reception at      Commodity Classic •  E85 Resource Guide and    CD-Rom Available

•  E85 for 85 Cents Sold in    Helena, MT •  Texas State Agencies     Considering E85 •  Clean-Burning Fuel Now    Pumping in Galva, IA •  Member Spotlight - Nishnabotna     Valley Rural Electric Cooperative

Prices Drive Record Exxon Mobil Profit

-from Reuters, January 31, 2005

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corporation, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, on Monday reported the highest quarterly profit in its history, driven by lofty crude oil and natural gas prices.

Net income in the fourth quarter rose to $8.42 billion, or $1.30 a share, from $6.65 billion, or $1.01 a share, a year earlier.

Analysts' average earnings forecast was $1.05 a share, according to Reuters Estimates.  Revenues shot up to $83.36 billion from $65.95 billion a year earlier.

Surging demand from growing Asian giants India and China, coupled with fears of a disruption in supplies from regions like Russia, Iraq and Nigeria, sent oil prices soaring to record levels in the quarter. Crude prices topped $55 a barrel in late October.

NEVC Attends Farm Bureau Conference

Staff of the NEVC recently attended the American Farm Bureaus’ 86th Convention and Annual Meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina. The convention, which discussed agricultural issues and hosted a large exposition, gave the NEVC a chance to educate attendees on the benefits of E85 as an alternative transportation fuel.

Headlining speakers at this year's convention included keynote speaker Rudolph Giuliani, former mayor of New York City (seen left); Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman; and AFBF President Bob Stallman.

Giuliani thanked the farmers and ranchers in the audience for “all that you do to supply Americans with abundant, safe food.”

“We had many attendees visit the NEVC booth with questions on where they could purchase the fuel and to see if their vehicles were E85 compatible,” said Michelle Kautz, Director of Communications for the NEVC.

Teddy Gentry (seen right with Kautz), former guitar player for the popular country group Alabama also visited NEVC’s exhibitor booth. “I really support what you all are doing,” commented Gentry. “It’s great that we can use corn and soybeans to reduce our need for oil.” Gentry later dawned an E85 baseball cap throughout much of the day.

NEVC Annual Meeting in Miami

The NEVC held their Annual Board and Membership Meeting on January 24-25 in sunny Miami, Florida. A large turnout of both board members and individual and corporate members joined the organization for their third annual meeting.

The Board Meeting was held the afternoon of January 24 and a dinner followed. The meeting concluded the morning of the 25th where new Executive Officers were elected. Officers for 2005 include:

Chairman – Curtis Donaldson from Clean Fueling Technologies
Vice-Chairman – Robert White from the Kansas Corn Growers Association
Secretary – Greg Krissek from United Bio Energy
Treasurer – Roger Moore from the Minnesota Corn Growers Association

“I am honored to serve as this year's Chairman of the NEVC and look forward to building on the legacy of the past as well as growing our opportunities for the future,” said Donaldson. “This market has really come together over the past several years through the hard work of many and I believe we are positioned now for a period of accelerated growth in this marketplace! This is ‘The Year’!”

New members of the NEVC Board of Directors include Bill Paulsen from Heartland Grain Fuels, L.P. and Bernie Punt from Siouxland Energy and Livestock. A complete listing of the 2005 NEVC Board of Directors are listed here.

The Membership meeting began after lunch. Speakers included: Roger Listenberger, NEVC’s Director of E85 Fuel Networking; Gary Herwick from General Motors; Shelley Launey from DOE; Linda Bluestein from DOE; Doug Durante from the Clean Fuels Development Coalition; Christi Vander Voort, NEVC’s Iowa E85 Coordinator; and Kevin Gibson of GSA. These presentations can be found on the NEVC website by clicking here.

A dinner cruise touring the Biscayne Bay concluded the two day event.

General Motors along with the NEVC will again be sponsoring a hospitality reception at this year’s Commodity Classic in Austin, Texas on February 23.  The Roping ‘em in with E85 will include food, drinks and entertainment by the legendary Jerry Jeff Walker.

YOU ARE INVITED to join in the festivities.  The Southwestern themed Roping ‘em in with E85 Hospitality Reception will be held in Salon A&B at the Hilton Austin from 7 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.  Texas Governor Rick Perry has been invited to participate in the event and will be joined by GM representatives at 8:00 pm.  Entertainment with Jerry Jeff Walker will immediately follow.

There is no charge to attend the function, however, in order to plan for the appropriate number of participants, please register by calling Michelle Kautz of the NEVC toll-free at (877) 485-8595 or email mkautz@e85fuel.com by February 14. 

The NEVC along with the Minnesota Corn Growers Association, the American Lung Association of Minnesota, and other partners in the Minnesota E85 Team have collaborated in creating an all-inclusive E85 Resource Guide and CD-Rom. This new resource book was introduced at NEVC’s recent Annual Board and Membership Meeting.

The book will be sold at a nominal charge of $25 for members for their first copy and sequential copies will be $100 each. Non-members of the NEVC will be charged $100 for each copy. The CD-Rom, which includes digitally all the information in the guide, is free of charge to members and $10 to non-members. Information includes the following:

• NEVC Membership and Point-of-Sale Promotional Materials
• Background of E85 and FFVs
• Conversion and Installation of E85 Tank and Pumps
• E85 Grants and Incentives
• Imaging
• Consumer Education
• Media Relations
• Working with Automobile Dealerships
• Technical Information
• Marketing Materials

For more information, contact Kelly Marczak at kmarczak@alamn.org.  To order, go to http://www.e85fuel.com/nevc/promoitems.htm and click on one of the order forms at the bottom of the page.

Montana Governor Schweitzer and Senator Black fuel an FFV with E85.

Montana’s Governor Brian Schweitzer and state Senator Jerry Black helped celebrate the opening of a new E85 fueling facility at 1330 North Montana Avenue in Helena, Montana on January 18.  The Junction Ethanol Card Shop held a Grand Opening event and sold 300 gallons of E85 for 85 cents per gallon from 7:30 a.m. until 4 p.m.

It is an unbranded station that accepts all major credit cards including government and fleet cards.

"The opening of a 24-hour, publicly available E85 station in the capital city of Montana, is a wonderful first step to bringing E85, and all ethanol blends, to the Great State of Montana,” said Mike Allen, owner of the station and member of the NEVC Board of Directors.  “This highly visible, public ethanol fueling stop is a wonderful way to let all of the motoring public have access to this home grown, renewable fuel.  Many thanks to all of the people, associations and departments that made this location a reality."
 

During the event, Governor Schweitzer fueled the Ford Explorer (shown above) owned by the Ethanol Producers and Consumers with the clean, renewable product. 

Allen added, "With bi-partisan support, Governor Brian Schweitzer and Senator Jerry Black re-dedicated Helena's only E85 public fueling station. Governor Schweitzer and Senator Black have been working hard to get ethanol legislation passed in Montana to encourage the production and use of this home grown, renewable fuel. The re-dedication took place on a sunny winter day with many private, public and local citizens in attendance."

A complete listing of E85 vehicles and E85 fueling facilities can be found on the NEVC website at www.E85Fuel.com.

Texas state government, a longtime leader in the use of alternative fuel vehicles, recently sponsored an all day event in Austin to consider the use of E85 and biodiesel in state and local government fleets.   Coordinated by the Texas Department of Transportation and the Austin Clean Cities program, more than 70 persons attended the event.  Phil Lampert, Tim Gerlach, and Roger Listenberger from the NEVC each made presentations.  NEVC Chairman Curtis Donaldson also participated in the event.

Texas has been a major proponent of the use of propane and compressed natural gas vehicles.  Unfortunately, most of the major automakers are no longer producing these vehicles as original equipment options. 

Besides the potential use of E85 in state government, discussions are ongoing with the city of Houston, the city of Austin, the Austin Police Department, and others.  NEVC will be participating in a follow up meeting with Texas officials in late February.

Galva, Iowa recently joined the growing list of Iowa cities which have access to clean-burning E85.   The new 12,000 gallon E85 tank is located at Galva Holstein Ag, LLC at 1583 Market Avenue in Galva.

“We decided to install an E85 tank because of our proximity to Highway 20, a major east/west highway that crosses Iowa,” said Delayne D. Johnson, Manager of Galva Holstein Ag, LLC.  “There are a limited number of E85 stations in our area and Galva Holstein Ag wants to be able to provide E85 fuel to motorists as they cross the great state of Iowa!  Our Galva location is an hour east of Fort Dodge, an hour west of Sioux City, an hour north of Spencer/Okoboji, and an hour south of Harlan.”

The facility receives its fuel from their local ethanol plant and business partner, Quad County Corn Processors.

“We are proud to market E85 and be a part of this emerging marketplace,” added Johnson.  “By using renewable fuels, each of us can help America to be less dependent on foreign oil!”

The station also offers E10, diesel and soydiesel.  It can be accessed 24 hours a day by credit card.  A grand opening event is being planned for early spring.

Nishnabotna Valley Rural Electric Cooperative has become one of the newest members of the NEVC. The company was organized in 1936 as a member-owned electric distribution utility and the cooperative’s goal is to provide safe, reliable and environmentally safe service to its members at a reasonable price.

The Cooperative stated that it supports ethanol production because of its value to corn producers and the environment. “We feel it is only natural to support efforts to utilize ethanol after it is produced,” said John Euchner, Chief Executive Officer of Nishnabotna Valley. “Alternative fuels will be an important part of our energy future. The availability of fuels is the only roadblock we’ve faced in using these products. The majority of our current fuel purchases are E10.

Euchner added, “We can strengthen the ties between use and production of ethanol by promoting the use of E85 and educating consumers abut E85. Continue to educate the public about the financial and environmental benefits of ethanol, and dispel the myths about ethanol’s net energy loss through production. We feel it is important to support the efforts of those working on renewable fuel projects in Southwest Iowa. The support should include the steps taken from the field to the fuel pump.”

We welcome this supportive cooperative to our organization.

NEVC Calendar

February 24-26, 2005
Commodity Classic in Austin, Texas.  For more information, visit www.commodityclassic.com.

April 4-8, 2005
Drive Clean and Green Across Missouri.  For more information, contact Kevin Herdler at herdlekc@kirkwoodmo.org.

May 1-5, 2005

11th Annual Clean Cities Conference to be held in Palm Springs, California.  For more information, email sara_huntley@nrel.gov.

June 7-9, 2005
FedFleet 2005: Keeping in Tune in Nashville, TN.  For more information, visit www.fedfleet.org. 

CONTACT US. . .

Please feel free to e-mail your story suggestions, comments, corrections or clarifications to us at info@e85fuel.com or call us toll free at 877-485-8595.

Phillip J. Lampert, Executive Director
info@e85.com

Shelia Helzer, Director of Administration
shelzer@e85fuel.com

Kathy Frese, CPA, Director of Finance
kfrese@E85Fuel.com

Michelle Kautz, Director of Communications
mkautz@E85Fuel.com

Roger Listenberger, Director E85 Fuel Networking
Phone:  (217) 877-5267
rlistenberger@E85Fuel.com

Louise Saucier, Membership Coordinator
lsaucier@E85Fuel.com

Christi Vander Voort, NEVC Iowa E85 Coordinator
Phone:  (712) 737-6415
cvandervoort@E85Fuel.com

You may view this FYI online at
http://www.e85fuel.com/news/index.htm

NEVC  promotes the use of 85 percent ethanol as a renewable form of alternative transportation fuel while enhancing agricultural profitability, advancing environmental stewardship and promoting national energy independence.