Corporate Politics Preventing Success of Ethanol Fuel?

Motor on down Western Avenue near the U-Albany campus and you'll come across a tall Mobil sign pitching the station’s gas prices, all of them over three dollars a gallon.

But there's something missing -- the cheapest price of $2.69 a gallon. That’s buried all the way at the bottom of the marquee, just the way Mobil wants it.

Station owner Christian King says it's intentional. The price of $2.69 is for E-85, or ethanol. The corn-based fuel has received a lot of media attention, but many people still don't know where they can get it -- and that includes people filling up at King’s station.

It's a problem that he’s been fighting since he started selling ethanol last summer. Exxon-Mobil won't let him put his E-85 price on the sign because, according to King, “every gallon of E-85 we sell is a gallon of Mobil they don’t sell.”

It may seem surprising that a global force like Exxon-Mobil would fee; threatened by one station in Albany, NY, selling Ethanol, but as King puts it, “everything starts small.”

The station owner tells us that Mobil was cooperative when selling ethanol was just an idea. But once it started selling, they changed some policies.

King says Mobil gave him permission to sell their branded gasoline and his E-85 from the same pump location. But since the ethanol went online, they have announced new guidelines that prohibit such a practice.

That would mean any future ethanol sales would have to come from a specific ethanol pump. King says that would be cost-prohibitive for most station owners.

We contacted Exxon Mobil and asked them about the guidelines they’ve implemented concerning E-85 sales at their stations. In an emailed response, Beth Snyder from the public affairs office says Mobil does allow E-85 to be advertised on station signage but attached a letter to station owners clarifies that claims such permission are granted on a "site-by-site basis."

No reference is made to our specific question on advertising the price.

King plans to add another ethanol pump to his Western Avenue location and wants to start selling E-85 at his station on Route 7 near the Northway in Latham.

Whether or not you'll be able to tell driving by remains to be seen.

If you would like to read the letter sent by Exxon Mobil click on the link to the right.

Tell us what you think about ethanol and its availability in the capital region. We invite you to leave a comment below.