Lewis used the money to sign up 12 independently owned gas stations to install ethanol tanks and pumps. The grant money would subsidize anywhere from half to all of the cost for equipment and installation, which ranges between $90,000 and $165,000 a pump.
In return, the state would increase the availability of an alternative fuel. Lewis, who would take care of the paperwork and permits, would get contracts to sell ethanol to the stations.
The first station to take advantage of this plan opened last month in Carlsbad. Lewis hopes to open one new ethanol-dispensing facility a month until the end of the year.
He said he was motivated not by eco-altruism but the sheer business opportunity.
"I didn't get into this thinking of myself as an environmentalist," said Lewis, who reasoned that fossil fuels would eventually run out, creating demand for alternative fuels.
California is home to about half a million cars that can burn ethanol, but there are few ethanol pumps to serve those vehicles. And automakers are continually cranking out more ethanol-compatible cars, thanks to federal incentives.
"There are a lot of chickens running around," or cars that can run on ethanol, Lewis said in the homey accent of his native West Virginia. "And now we just need to make the eggs. I think we have the right product at the right time with the right business model. The potential upside is massive."
For now, Lewis is happy just that his station is still in business -- two other stations within a mile of his have shut down in the last year.
Although the numbers aren't finalized, June looks to be the station's first profitable month in two years.
"If it is, it will be because of ethanol," which has a higher profit margin, he said.
As Lewis headed back to his office after giving a tour of his fuel pumps, he bent over to pick up a shiny penny on the ground.
Pocketing the coin, he said, "I'm going to need every one of these I can get."
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alex.pham@latimes.com
