Pacific Ethanol Announces Resignation of Daniel Sanders From Board of Directors

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Oct. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pacific Ethanol, Inc. (Nasdaq: PEIX), the largest West Coast-based marketer and producer of ethanol, today announced that Daniel A. Sanders, founder and majority owner of Front Range Energy, LLC has stepped down from the Board of Directors effective October 8th.

Mr. Sanders said, "While I will continue to be a partner of the company and to have an abiding interest in Pacific Ethanol's long term success, my personal desire to scale back business responsibilities generally prevents me from devoting the time to the Board that the company deserves."

Chairman Bill Jones noted, "As the majority owner of Front Range, Dan Sanders will remain a business partner and strong supporter of the Company. He has provided valued contributions to the Company and the Board for which we are grateful."

Pacific Ethanol, Inc. announced on October 17, 2006 its acquisition of 42% of Front Range, which owns an ethanol plant in Windsor, Colorado with a current annual production rate of 47 million gallons.

About Pacific Ethanol, Inc.

Pacific Ethanol is the largest West Coast-based marketer and producer of ethanol. Pacific Ethanol has ethanol plants in Madera, California, and Boardman, Oregon and has three additional plants under construction in Burley, Idaho; in the Imperial Valley near Calipatria, California; and at the port of Stockton, California. Pacific Ethanol also owns a 42% interest in Front Range Energy, LLC which owns an ethanol plant in Windsor, Colorado. Central to its growth strategy is its destination business model, whereby each respective ethanol plant achieves lower process and transportation costs by servicing local markets for both fuel and feed. In February 2007, Pacific Ethanol obtained a $325 million credit facility to provide financing for its first five ethanol production facilities. Pacific Ethanol's goal is to achieve 220 million gallons per year of ethanol production capacity by the middle of 2008 and to increase total production capacity to 420 million gallons per year by the end of 2010. In addition, Pacific Ethanol is working to identify and develop other renewable fuel technologies, such as cellulose-based ethanol production and bio-diesel.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

With the exception of historical information, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. The actual future results of Pacific Ethanol could differ from those statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, the ability of Pacific Ethanol to successfully and timely complete, in a cost-effective manner, construction of its four ethanol plants under construction; the ability of Pacific Ethanol to obtain all necessary financing to complete the construction of its other planned ethanol production facilities; the ability of Pacific Ethanol to timely complete its ethanol plant build-out program and to successfully capitalize on its internal growth initiatives; the ability of Pacific Ethanol to operate its plants at their planned production capacities; the price of ethanol relative to the price of gasoline; and the factors contained in the "Risk Factors" section of Pacific Ethanol's Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 12, 2007.

    CONTACTS
    INVESTORS:                                    MEDIA:
    Gregory Pettit                                Rory Mackin
    Hill & Knowlton                               Hill & Knowlton
    212-885-0301                                  212-885-0455
    gpettit@hillandknowlton.com                   rmackin@hillandknowlton.com

SOURCE Pacific Ethanol, Inc.

Released October 12, 2007