Joint Letter: Increased Transparency Needed Around Department of Energy’s Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs Program

Clean Air Task Force (CATF) worked alongside Natural Resource Defense Council, Information Technology Innovation Foundation, Nuclear Innovation Alliance, Environmental Defense Fund, and staff from Resources for the Future to develop recommendations calling for increased transparency about the Department of Energy’s Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs Program.  

The $7B program funded by the Infrastructure Investment Jobs Act began accepting concept papers from prospective hubs in September 2022, received full applications in April 2023, and announced seven initial award selections in October 2023. The Department of Energy is currently in negotiations with the seven prospective awardees, ironing out details of initial project plans before they enter Phase 1. To date, minimal information about the projects has been shared with the public. The negotiations are a critical stage for setting transparency expectations. Information sharing will be important to enable effective community engagement, build public trust and credibility for the program, enable effective impact measurement, and enable peer learning and market development.  

Signed by six groups with input from additional groups and experts, the letter recommends a prioritized set of information that the Department of Energy should share and includes recommended timeline for releasing each category of information and key audiences for each piece of information. CATF will continue to work with the Department of Energy, hub developers, community groups, and peer NGOs to support successful, transparent implementation of the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs Program.