RICHMOND, Indiana -- Corey Holmes spends a lot of money on gas for his car.

Like a lot of people in Richmond, he wants to find a way to cut his gas bill.

“I put $30 or $40 in it every week. When I drove a truck, I used to put in $25 a day,” Holmes said.

Holmes and other people in Richmond may soon see some relief.

A Columbus, Ohio-based company, U.S. Biofuels, plans to build an ethanol plant in Richmond.

Ethanol is made from corn and is traditionally cheaper than gasoline.

The city of Richmond has signed an agreement with U.S. Biofuels to sell the company methane gas from the city landfill.

Steve Saum, Richmond Power and Light general manager, said the company will use the methane to produce electricity to run the ethanol plant.

“We have been told by U.S. Biofuels it could bring between 40 and 50 jobs in. The mayor and economic development commission have been involved. We have been looking at this for a year now,” Saum said.

The city currently burns off methane gas from the landfill.

RP&L Energy Services Director Harry Phillips said the system to collect the methane is already in place.

“Ordinarily it will just rise up and part of the infrastructure will capture that in a centralized area,” Phillips said.

The ethanol plant would be the first in Wayne County, but others are in the works nearby.

“Here in Indiana, we have had several counties just north of us with proposed ethanol plants at various stages. Some of them are already building. So we see an ethanol plant here in Richmond as a great thing for Richmond,” Saum said.

The company has not announced a timetable for construction of the new ethanol plant.

Jim.otte@whiotv.com