The US Department of Energy (DOE) has canceled meetings between planned hydrogen hubs and the public, casting further uncertainty over how the multibillion-dollar ventures will proceed as the administration of President Donald Trump pauses clean energy initiatives.
California’s Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems (Arches) has informed members of the hub’s Community Benefits Workgroup that it was canceling a meeting scheduled for 13 February.
“In accordance with the recent Department of Energy memo issued last week, mandating that we stop all community benefits-related work, we will be pausing our biweekly Hub-level Community Benefits calls as we work with DOE to evaluate how this guidance affects Arches’ community engagement strategy moving forward,” Arches said in an email seen by Argus.
Arches is one of seven proposed regional hydrogen production hubs around the US that were designated by former president Joe Biden to receive billions of dollars in federal funding.
A total of about $170mn was announced last year and in early January to be paid out as first tranches of government funding to the seven hubs to initiate planning and development activities.
The status of those payments and future disbursements have been thrown into doubt since Trump ordered a pause on payments related to the Inflation Reduction Act, an executive decision that a judge then ordered temporarily halted.
Arches continues to work during a temporary pause in community engagement meetings, Arches chief executive Angelina Galiteva said in an email to Argus.
“We recognize that programmatic reviews are a standard part of administrative transitions and remain confident in the ongoing progress of Phase 1 activities,” said Galiteva.
Community organizers in the northeast that have protested the Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub (Mach2) were also notified that an upcoming webinar hosted by the DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations about Phase 1 funding awards have been canceled.
“We are postponing this briefing until further notice,” said an e-mail sent out to those who had registered for the 13 February briefing.
Source: Jasmina Kelemen, Argus Media
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