{"id":338377,"date":"2025-10-28T12:48:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T12:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/338377\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T12:48:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T12:48:11","slug":"california-continues-hydrogen-push-after-federal-funding-cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/338377\/","title":{"rendered":"California continues hydrogen push after federal funding cuts"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Alejandro Lazo<\/a>, CalMatters<\/p>\n

This story was originally published by CalMatters<\/a>. Sign up<\/a> for their newsletters.<\/p>\n

The Scattergood Generating Station in Los Angeles is an oceanfront natural-gas-burning relic that sits on the uncertain brink of a clean-energy showdown.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Board of Water and Power Commissioners will decide<\/a> whether to advance a plan to shift the plant to futuristic hydrogen-ready turbines. The $800-million-plus retrofit is an anchor in California\u2019s effort to boost hydrogen, a potentially clean fuel that for now remains costly, water-intensive and rarely produced without oil and gas.<\/p>\n

But California\u2019s high hopes for hydrogen \u2014 and the state\u2019s investments in it as a potential economic driver in the era of clean energy \u2014 are at a crossroads.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the Trump administration canceled $1.2 billion in federal funding for California\u2019s hydrogen hub, a public-private partnership to build a clean hydrogen economy and support projects like Scattergood. The move followed a decision earlier this summer to scale back federal tax credits nationally for hydrogen.<\/p>\n

California says it\u2019s pressing ahead with hydrogen projects including Scattergood, with or without federal support.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe state remains committed to developing a renewable hydrogen ecosystem,\u201d said Willie Rudman, a spokesman for the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, or GO-Biz, which led the creation of the hydrogen partnership. Clean hydrogen, Rudman added, \u201cholds incredible potential as California continues its transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Critics say that optimism ignores real costs and trade-offs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A bold investment, an uncertain climate<\/strong><\/p>\n

California politicians have chased hydrogen for decades, seeking environmental and economic benefits. In 2004, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger famously rolled out a hydrogen-powered Hummer and ordered a \u201cHydrogen Highway\u201d of fueling stations.<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s most recent bid \u2013 an ambitious hydrogen hub \u2013 has been its boldest investment yet.<\/p>\n

In 2022, Gov. Gavin Newsom launched the Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems, or ARCHES \u2014 a partnership led by GO-Biz, the University of California, and the State Building and Construction Trades Council. It now counts more than four hundred public- and private-sector partners, including Chevron and other energy companies.<\/p>\n

Most hydrogen today comes from natural gas \u2014 a carbon-intensive process that undercuts its climate appeal. Over time, ARCHES hopes to help industry swap that process for \u201cgreen\u201d hydrogen made by splitting water with renewable power, an expensive and elusive process.<\/p>\n

Newsom has embraced hydrogen as both climate and economic policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cScaling this in California isn’t just about addressing the climate crisis \u2014 it’s also about creating hundreds of thousands of jobs,\u201d Newsom wrote in August 2023<\/a>. He directed his administration to develop an \u201call-of-government Hydrogen Market Development Strategy,\u201d similar to what California had done for electric cars.<\/p>\n

ARCHES won up to $1.2 billion in federal funding from the Department of Energy as part of a $12.6 billion total statewide hydrogen hub<\/a>. The award positioned California at the center of the nation\u2019s ambitions for clean hydrogen \u2014 until the Trump administration abruptly withdrew funding Oct. 1.<\/p>\n

Newsom blasted the move as political and \u201ccommon sense be damned.\u201d While California lost its funding, several hydrogen hubs in Republican-led states kept theirs. California has appealed the decision.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

State Sen. Anna Caballero<\/a>, a Democrat from Merced who authored a law speeding approval of hydrogen projects last year, said she expects talks next session on using cap-and-trade funds to keep the hydrogen hub alive. Private and international investors, she added, remain interested in California\u2019s market.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople in my district are asking for good jobs as we make this transition \u2014 and they\u2019re looking for clean air \u2014 and hydrogen has the capacity to do all of the above,\u201d Caballero said. \u201cWe have the opportunity, and I\u2019d like to see us explore it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not everyone was disappointed by the loss of the California funding. Some environmental groups, concerned about encouraging fossil fuels and the potential for explosions, welcomed the federal cancellation. Nevertheless, Los Angeles is pressing ahead with Scattergood \u2014 one of several projects that were part of the original statewide hydrogen push.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Why LA is betting on hydrogen\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Until a few weeks ago, ARCHES, the state\u2019s hydrogen hub, was expected to contribute at least $100 million to the Scattergood retrofit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOur understanding is that the federal dollars are not coming in,\u201d said Jason Rondou, assistant general manager of power planning and operations for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. \u201cWe don’t know yet if there will be another mechanism to make up that $100 million.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the largest municipal utility in the country is seeking approval from its board for the Scattergood conversion, calling it a step toward the city\u2019s goal of\u00a0 fossil-free power by 2035 and the state\u2019s similar goal, with a deadline a decade later.<\/p>\n

Utility officials say the Scattergood upgrade is necessary because its aging gas turbines are inefficient, dirty and cooled with seawater \u2014 a process now banned under state policy because of its impact on marine life. The plan is to replace the old turbines with a new combined-cycle unit designed to burn a blend of hydrogen and natural gas.<\/p>\n

The goal is to make Scattergood more of a \u201cpeaker\u201d plant \u2014 one that can fire up and cycle down to match demand surges, rather than running around the clock. But environmentalists are concerned about a project that runs on \u201cgreen\u201d hydrogen when it isn\u2019t readily available at scale. The retrofit would keep the plant running on natural gas, with LADWP reserving the option to blend in as much as 30% hydrogen if the fuel becomes available and affordable.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou’re spending a lot of money on a technology that doesn’t currently exist,\u201d said Julia Dowell, a Long Beach-based organizer with the Sierra Club, who\u2019s led opposition to the Scattergood plan. \u201cWe don’t really know when it will come to fruition \u2014 if at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now, this is a natural gas plant, said Dan Esposito, a hydrogen expert with the clean energy think tank Energy Innovation. \u201cIn a place with high local air pollution, in a place that has these high clean energy goals \u2026 should we be building a new gas plant if there are other clean technologies that we can invest in that we have more certainty will deliver on those clean energy targets? It\u2019s a very tough question.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a recent analysis, the city\u2019s ratepayer advocate said<\/a> the financial setback \u201cdoesn\u2019t close the door on clean hydrogen\u201d but nevertheless raises questions about who ultimately pays for the project \u2014 and how the utility will balance its clean-energy goals with affordability.<\/p>\n

The risks ahead\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

LA\u2019s water and power commissioners are likely to approve Scattergood\u2019s modernization on Tuesday. The vote won\u2019t start construction, but it will clear the way for the city\u2019s department of water and power to seek builders and finalize designs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The decision also points up a tough question for California\u2019s hydrogen strategy: without federal support, are public agencies investing scarce climate dollars in the right places?<\/p>\n

Scattergood\u2019s environmental review drew nearly 100 comments from residents, neighboring cities and advocacy groups.<\/p>\n

The city of El Segundo warned that emissions and construction traffic could spill across its borders. Business groups backed the plan as a source of\u00a0jobs and grid reliability. Meanwhile environmental groups warned of harms both locally and beyond.<\/p>\n

Building even one major hydrogen project like Scattergood means committing to an entire network of pipelines, storage and supply.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAn investment in hydrogen comes with an opportunity cost,\u201d said Alex Jasset, director of energy justice at Physicians for Social Responsibility Los Angeles, who opposes the project. \u201cWe’re dumping a lot of our very limited resources for addressing the climate crisis into an inefficient, expensive option when we could be instead investing in cheaper, more scalable, more immediate benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jasset said that the infrastructure for hydrogen projects will mostly be paid for by Californians \u2013 through taxes, utility bills, or state business fees. And if those projects fall short, they risk prolonging fossil-fuel infrastructure in neighborhoods already burdened by pollution.<\/p>\n

Esposito, the analyst at Energy Innovation, says the Trump Administration\u2019s cancellation of the hydrogen hub award, and the loss of federal credits, might offer a silver lining.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was so much money for hydrogen,\u00a0and so much excitement, that we were frankly at risk of making a lot of bad decisions,\u201d Esposito said.\u00a0 \u201cThere were all these proposals that were coming out that were not on solid financial ground \u2014 and needed these big subsidies \u2014 and then a lot of this money dried up overnight.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Los Angeles considers its major project, Esposito added, the state\u2019s hydrogen boosters are getting something essential: a reality check. The challenge now is whether that clarity can guide smarter investments \u2014 and a more sustainable path forward.<\/p>\n

This article was originally published on CalMatters<\/a> and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives<\/a> license.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Alejandro Lazo, CalMatters This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. The Scattergood…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":338378,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,5495,2961,224,5337],"class_list":{"0":"post-338377","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-energy","11":"tag-la","12":"tag-los-angeles","13":"tag-losangeles"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115451874929263580","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/338378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}