Several states now mandate the use of Ethanol in their gasoline including many states out East. The problem with this is that the Eastern US does not produce the corn-based Ethanol (it is possible to produce Ethanol from sugar cane though production hasn't really started yet & folks are still researching other crops to use) it now has to get to meet the mandates. Now think about this for a moment: the East can't produce the Ethanol they need to use by law so how does it get there? By diesel-using tankers only. Ethanol distribution systems (meaning pipelines) are not being built & Ethanol cannot be run through the same pipelines we use for oil-based products, indeed it can damage the pipelines themselves.
As far as I know, here in this state, distributors must state that Ethanol is in the gasoline you buy though we do not have a state mandate to do so. I know at our company we only mix with gasoline when the price of the Ethanol is less than the price of the bulk gasoline. That hasn't been the case of late. Just like Franc says, we keep our prices the same with or without the Ethanol present. And yes, I do think it's a rip!