Trump Set to Cancel West Coast Hydrogen Hubs Amid Shutdown Fight

October 06, 2025

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(Bloomberg/Financial Post) The Trump administration is planning to cancel billions of dollars earmarked for hydrogen projects in California and the Pacific Northwest as part of its first tranche of funding cuts following the government shutdown, according to an administration official. READ MORE

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Excerpt from Associated Press: The Energy Department said in a statement Thursday that 223 projects were terminated after a review determined they did not adequately advance the nation’s energy needs or were not economically viable. Officials did not provide details about which projects are being cut, but said funding came from the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, and other DOE bureaus.

The cuts are likely to affect battery plants, hydrogen technology projects, upgrades to the electric grid and carbon-capture efforts, among many others, according to the environmental nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council.

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Russell Vought, the White House budget director, highlighted the cutbacks in a social media post late Wednesday, saying money “to fuel the Left’s climate agenda is being cancelled.”

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Vought and the Energy Department did not explain how they came up with their list of targeted states, considering that dozens of states have clean energy projects. But all 16 targeted states supported Harris, and in each of those states, both U.S. senators voted against the Republican’s short-term funding bill to keep the government working.

The cuts include up to $1.2 billion for California’s hydrogen hub that is aimed at accelerating hydrogen technology and production, and up to $1 billion for a hydrogen project in the Pacific Northwest. A Texas hydrogen project and a three-state project in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania were spared, according to clean-energy supporters who obtained a list of the DOE targets.

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the private sector has committed $10 billion for the state’s hydrogen project, known as the Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems, or ARCHES. The cut threatens over 200,000 jobs, Newsom said.

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The California project is one of seven clean-energy projects from West Virginia to Washington state selected by the Biden administration for a $7 billion program to kickstart development and production of hydrogen fuel, part of former President Joe Biden’s agenda to slow climate change.

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While the current cancellations are in Democratic-led states, (Energy Secretary Chris) Wright said other projects, including hydrogen proposals in West Virginia, Texas and Louisiana, are being evaluated.

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Award recipients have 30 days to appeal the Energy Department’s termination decision. READ MORE

Excerpt from KGW8: Hydrogen has been touted as a greener alterative for parts of the economy that are hard to electrify, like heavy industry, trucking, and the manufacture of carbon-intensive materials, like concrete and steel.

Chris Green, president of the Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Association, said in an interview Thursday that this news came as a "gut punch."

"Right now, we are in the process of determining whether the projects that we were funding through this hydrogen hub can proceed without grant funds," said Green. "So, we're talking to every one of those projects — and there are projects in Washington, Oregon and Montana — to understand what their path forward is.

"In some cases, I think projects will say, 'Jeez, without the federal funds, it just doesn't pencil for us anymore. We're not going to do it, or we'll go invest some other place.'"

Still, Green said there could be some hope.

“The good news is there are some companies that have reached out to me this morning already and said, 'Hey, even without these federal funds, we want to make a go of it because this market is so important, and we can see how valuable this product is going to be in the Pacific Northwest because of all the demand we know we're going to have,'" Green said.

This was an eight-year grant program, Green added, and the award was made in 2023. They had finished the first phase, but the big expenditures come in the later phases, and they have not even begun construction yet.

Meanwhile, agencies like PGE wrote in a statement Thursday that they had not heard directly from the U.S. Department of Energy about their decision to cancel funds.

“PGE is aware of the U.S. Department of Energy’s announcement terminating federal grants for energy projects in Oregon — though we have not been contacted by the department," said Larry Bekkedahl, senior vice president strategy and advanced energy delivery at PGE.

"The federal grants that PGE and partners have been awarded support critical investments in the reliability of Oregon and the region’s electrical system and help keep electricity prices as low as possible for customers. These grants also support America’s economic prosperity and security with a reliable power grid that is essential to the administration’s priority of leading in global technology," Bekkedahl concluded.

Many warned that the cancelations will kneecap revamping of the electric grid amid higher energy needs and end up costing ratepayers more money. READ MORE

Excerpt from Washington State Standard/My Edmonds News: Democratic politicians from Oregon and Washington state immediately cried foul and vowed to challenge what they called an “illegal” clawback of Congressionally-directed spending.

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The tri-state Northwest hydrogen hub launched last year to funnel up to $1 billion in federal taxpayer funding to the region to kickstart production and use of zero-emissions hydrogen fuel. Private industry, truckmakers, transit and seaport partners were to bring large sums to the table in matching funds over the next eight to 10 years.

But Trump administration officials voiced deep skepticism about climate and green energy initiatives championed by the previous Biden administration.

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A follow-up news release that went out under Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s name said that his agency determined the cancelled projects did “not adequately advance the nation’s energy needs, were not economically viable, and would not provide a positive return on investment of taxpayer dollars.”

The Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub attracted bipartisan support locally as a means to create new jobs and meet climate goals, particularly in sectors that are proving difficult to convert directly to clean electric power. Washington Democratic Sen. Patty Murray blasted the Trump administration in a statement for playing “some sort of sick political game” on the first day of the partial government shutdown.

“This administration has had plans in the works for months to cancel critical energy projects, and now, they are illegally taking action to kill jobs and raise people’s energy bills,” Murray said.

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Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson said in a prepared statement Thursday that his office was working with state Attorney General Nick Brown to “fight this illegal action.”

Ironically, the majority of the hydrogen production infrastructure for the Northwest hub project was to be built in counties that voted for Trump, such as Benton and Lewis counties in Washington, Baker and Morrow counties in Oregon, and the St. Regis, Montana area.

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Most of the surviving hubs align more closely with the current administration’s energy priorities by producing hydrogen from natural gas with carbon capture or by using nuclear power.

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Aggrieved Democratic Congresswoman Suzan DelBene, D-Medina, shared a list of other project cancellations, which included four Department of Energy grants to Washington State University for solar energy and vehicle technology development, totalling nearly $10 million.

The termination list also noted a bigger – nearly $68 million – hit to Bellevue, Washington-based truck maker PACCAR, which was to receive assistance for developing and manufacturing cleaner semi trucks.

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The biggest single component within the Northwest hydrogen hub was a planned $1.5 billion green fertilizer factory near Richland, Washington, which was to produce hydrogen on site as a key ingredient. Switzerland-based Atlas Agro has already started permit applications for the big plant and lined up customers.

Close behind in terms of investment and scale, Calgary-based AltaGas had a plan to redevelop the closed Intalco aluminum smelter near Ferndale, Washington, to produce climate-friendly hydrogen for refinery use, transportation fuel and possibly power generation.

It’s unclear what happens now. Both corporate boards had postponed making final investment decisions because of the uncertainty about federal subsidies and tax credits.

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Other smaller participants in the PNWH2 Hub had plans to build green hydrogen fueling and distribution infrastructure. Those outfits joined the hub to receive subsidies for design, construction and startup costs.

Plans included hydrogen refueling stations for big trucks along Interstate 84 in Eastern Oregon and on I-90 in far western Montana as well as hydrogen fuel cell transit bus expansion in southwest Washington.

There were signs of trouble for the hub prior to this week – consequences of the slower-than-expected emergence of demand for hydrogen fuel and the high cost of production. A half dozen energy developers exited from various projects that were originally included in the Northwest hydrogen hub’s federal funding proposal. Notable names to get cold feet over the past year included Fortescue, Portland General Electric, Mitsubishi Power, First Mode and Puget Sound Energy.

Prospective large-scale clean hydrogen producers Fortescue, Atlas Agro and AltaGas were also having a hard time locating affordable sources of renewable electricity in the quantities needed to split water molecules to make pure hydrogen. READ MORE