WASHINGTON D.C. (KEYT) – California Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff sent a letter Thursday to the Secretary of Energy opposing the selective cancellation of billions in federal funds for energy-related projects in states that President Trump lost in the last election cycle including two massive hydrogen generation hubs in California and the Pacific Northwest.
The now-terminated $1.2 billion in federal funding was originally dedicated to the California Hydrogen Hub through the Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems (ARCHES) after the project was selected as one of seven regional hubs nationwide in October of 2023.
“We write in strong opposition to the U.S. Department of Energy’s cancellation of California’s Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems (ARCHES), in addition to the cancellation of over $7.5 billion in other DOE grants,” stated the Senators in Wednesday’s letter. “The cancellation of ARCHES is vindictive, shortsighted, and proof that this Administration is not serious about American energy dominance.”
Collectively, the seven hydrogen hubs were projected to produce more than three million metric tons of hydrogen per year, nearly one-third of the 2030 national production goal, while simultaneously eliminating an estimated 25 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions from end uses each year relayed Haris Talwar, Regional Communications Director for the Biden Administration in 2023.
A full list of the seven regional hydrogen hubs selected at the time are below:
- Mid-Atlantic Hydrogen Hub (Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub (MACH2); Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey)
- Appalachian Hydrogen Hub (Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2); West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania)
- California Hydrogen Hub (Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems (ARCHES); California)
- Gulf Coast Hydrogen Hub (HyVelocity Hydrogen Hub; Texas)
- Heartland Hydrogen Hub (Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota)
- Midwest Hydrogen Hub (Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen (MachH2); Illinois, Indiana, Michigan)
- Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub (PNW H2; Washington, Oregon, Montana)
Those investments into hydrogen generation infrastructure across the nation were authorized through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act which was signed into law in 2021.
“On day one, the Energy Department began the critical task of reviewing billions of dollars in financial awards, many rushed through in the final months of the Biden administration with inadequate documentation by any reasonable business standard,” argued Secretary of Energy Chris Wright about the terminated funding. “President Trump promised to protect taxpayer dollars and expand America’s supply of affordable, reliable, and secure energy. Today’s cancellation’s deliver on that commitment.”
Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee compiled a list of all 223 projects slated for termination by the Department of Energy this week and funding for California’s ARCHES project and the Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub, a project that was scheduled to receive $1 billion in federal funding, were included in the selective cancellations announced this week.
“It is outrageous that this administration is using a government shutdown to punish blue states like Washington,” said Washington Governor Bob Ferguson. “We’re working with the Attorney General’s Office to fight this illegal action.”
The Alliance for Renewable Clean Energy Systems (ARCHES) hydrogen program in California planned to pair the $1.2 billion in federal funds with $11.4 billion in public and private funding which included more than 300 organizations across the state and representing state, county, and city governments; industry; community groups; universities; labor unions; non-governmental organizations; and national labs detailed Senior Senator Alex Padilla when the investment was announced in October of 2023.
“This cancellation forgoes an agreement that garnered over $10 billion in primarily private sector cost share, threatens over 200,000 new family-sustaining jobs and undermines a program slated to save nearly $3 billion in health costs per year, improving the health of Americans that have suffered from some of the worst air quality in the nation,” stated California Governor Newsom on Wednesday.
The ARCHES hydrogen hub network included the Central Coast Clean Cities Coalition and The Hydrogen Delivery Company, both located in Santa Barbara and two other projects cited for termination, $2 million for the Community Environmental Council and $8,796,815 for Smartville Inc., were identified by members of the House Appropriations Committee this week.
“For California to meet its goal of net zero emissions by 2045, it must decarbonize its transportation sector, which accounts for 50% of the state’s carbon emissions,” explained a Master’s group project at UC Santa Barbara’s Bren School of Environmental Science & Management in 2024. “However, current electric vehicle batteries are not equipped to suit the needs of larger vehicles, like freight trucks or buses. Green hydrogen, or hydrogen made from renewable electricity and water, can fill this gap. However, green hydrogen is currently produced in lesser quantities than carbon-intensive fuels, such as diesel, making green hydrogen an unaffordable fuel option.”
On Wednesday, Oct. 1, the Trump Administration’s Budget Director Russell Vought announced on X/Twitter that Department of Energy projects in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington would be cancelled.
Nearly $8 billion in Green New Scam funding to fuel the Left’s climate agenda is being cancelled. More info to come from @ENERGY.
The projects are in the following states: CA, CO, CT, DE, HI, IL, MD, MA, MN, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OR, VT, WA
— Russ Vought (@russvought) October 1, 2025
Each one of the listed states that had federal funding terminated Wednesday awarded their respective electoral votes to Kamala Harris in the 2024 Presidential Election.
In May of this year, Secretary Wright issued a Secretarial Memorandum that required all financial awards through the federal agency to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis to, “identify waste, safeguard taxpayer dollars, protect America’s national security, and advance President Trump’s commitment to deliver affordable, reliable, and secure energy for the American people.”
The memorandum allows award recipients who have had their funding terminated to appeal the decision within 30 days.
“California and ARCHES will continue to work with our 400+ partners to develop a renewable hydrogen ecosystem that will enable multiple industries to cost effectively transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy,” vowed Governor Newsom regarding the termination. “Greenhouse gas emissions in California are down 20% since 2000 – even as the state’s GDP increased 78% in that same time period all while becoming the world’s fourth largest economy.”
Your News Channel has reached out to both Senator Schiff’s and Padilla’s offices, ARCHES, the Department of Energy, and the Office of Management and Budget for more information about the terminations and their responses will be added to this article when they are received.
