The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent U.S. government agency whose mission is to protect the public from unfair or deceptive business practices and from unfair methods of competition. It does this mainly by enforcing antitrust (competition) and consumer-protection laws, investigating business conduct, reviewing mergers, and publishing studies and reports. In markets like ethanol, the FTC monitors how competitive the industry is and, as required by law, analyzes whether a few firms could have enough power to fix prices or otherwise harm competition.
“Ethanol market concentration” describes how much of the ethanol production industry is controlled by a small number of companies. If a few firms account for most production capacity, the market is highly concentrated, which makes price‑setting or other anticompetitive behavior more likely. If many firms each have smaller shares, the market is less concentrated and more competitive. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 requires the FTC each year to analyze ethanol market concentration specifically “to determine whether there is sufficient competition among industry participants to avoid price‑setting and other anticompetitive behavior,” because this affects fuel prices and the fairness of the market for consumers and other businesses.
The Clean Air Act, as amended by Section 1501 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (codified at 42 U.S.C. § 7545(o)(10)), requires the FTC to:
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 amended the Clean Air Act by adding Section 211(o)(10) (42 U.S.C. § 7545(o)(10)). This new provision created a specific, ongoing requirement that the FTC annually:
You can read both on the FTC’s website:
Past FTC ethanol market concentration reports are primarily analytical, not prescriptive. They describe industry structure, calculate concentration measures, and conclude whether nationwide coordination on price or output is likely. For example, the 2025 press release repeats the standard finding that nationwide price‑setting or coordinated behavior is “unlikely,” but does not announce new enforcement actions or specific policy recommendations aimed at ethanol producers, distributors, or fuel suppliers. Any actual enforcement cases or policy changes would proceed under separate processes, even if the FTC considers information from these reports.