Fuel retailers call on Congress to restore BTC to reduce consumer price at the pump

Ahead of the March 10 Senate agriculture committee hearing examining the need to increase domestic production and consumption of U.S. agricultural products, fuel retailers told lawmakers that the transition away from the biodiesel blenders tax credit (BTC) to the 45Z clean fuel production tax credit is stifling demand for renewable fuels made from corn and soybeans, leading to higher fuel prices for consumers.

NATSO, representing truck stops and travel centers, SIGMA: America’s Leading Fuel Marketers, and the National Association of Convenience Stores said in a letter to the Senate ag committee that the biodiesel market has dried up since the expiration of the BTC and its replacement with 45Z.

“Recent policy changes have left consumers and American farmers behind,” the organizations said in the letter. “We encourage the committee, starting with today’s hearing, to work with stakeholders throughout the country to bring back the BTC so that biofuels can go back to playing the role that they used to play: lowering retail fuel prices in the United States. Farmers, producers and consumers all benefit from a tax credit that incentivizes the consumption of biofuel. Biofuel policy works best when it helps the entire supply chain lower consumers’ costs at the pump.”

Representing 90 percent of fuel sold at retail, NATSO, SIGMA and NACS said when Congress enacted the “big, beautiful bill,” fuel retail prices were stable.

Extending a producer credit rather than a blender credit did not present clear-and-present economic downside for fuel consumers.

“Now, the harmful economic ramifications of transitioning from a blender credit to a producer credit are rapidly materializing in the form of increasing oil prices and a corresponding increase in retail fuel prices, harming American consumers who continue to grapple with affordability concerns,” the organizations stated.

Until 2025, the $1-per-gallon BTC served as a brake on accelerating fuel prices.

The BTC incentivized fuel retailers to blend higher quantities of biodiesel by providing a clear, understandable tax credit that allowed fuel retailers to mitigate price increases and sell fuel to consumers at the lowest possible price.

It further helped lower fuel prices for the nation’s trucking fleets, which move the vast majority of consumer goods.

Without the biodiesel tax credit in place, rapidly rising diesel prices stand to exacerbate price pressures throughout the broader economy, the organizations stated.

NATSO, SIGMA and NACS urge swift legislative action to restore the $1-per-gallon BTC and said they look forward to working with the committee to address their concerns about U.S. domestic agriculture production.