Gov. Daugaard aims to expand ethanol use and infrastructure

In his State of State Address on Tuesday, January 11, newly elected South Dakota Governor, Dennis Daugaard, discussed his future plans for the states’ ethanol industry moving forward in regards to helping lessen the state’s budget deficit.

The plan featured $3.5 million dollars that will be used in the expansion of the state’s blender pump infrastructure. Additional blender pumps will make ethanol more accessible in the market place giving more consumers the choice of using higher blends when filling up. Additional ethanol sales will likely stimulate much of the state’s economy benefitting ethanol plants, farmers, small businesses and consumers.

The state of South Dakota has long been a supporter of ethanol and blender pump infrastructure. Just last year, Representative Mitch Fargen sponsored a bill that helped gas station owners pay for the installation of blender pumps using funds that were allocated to South Dakota through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Daugaard also noted that the state’s ethanol plant incentives will be spread out over an two additional years, redeploying short-term incentives to build long-term infrastructure and industry. The dollars saved by the redistribution totaling $10 million will be used in the REDI fund, which is designed to promote job grow through low-interest loans to start-up firms.