The Minnesota Legislature acted to expand the state's ethanol production goal from 220 million gallons a year to 240 million gallons a year. The measure was necessary to ensure that the state's goal of replacing 10 percent of its fuel needs with ethanol can be met as gasoline use increases. As a result, one additional ethanol plant will be able to participate in the state's producer payment program, which equates to a 20¢/gallon payment on up to 15 million gallons of ethanol per year for a maximum of 10 years. Minnesota, which introduced a state-wide oxygenated fuel program last October and enjoys a nearly 100% ethanol-blended fuels market, notes that the hotline installed to answer questions concerning ethanol "has gone cold."