The Hydrogen Fuel Cell Partnership (H2FCP) continues its dedicated work with public and private stakeholders to ensure California’s clean transportation goals are met through effective, market-responsive investments in hydrogen refueling infrastructure.
In a recent submission to the California Energy Commission (CEC) regarding the reallocation of funds returned under Grant Funding Opportunity (GFO) 19-602, H2FCP presented a comprehensive, four-part funding strategy to support market stabilization and long-term growth.
- H2FCP Letter: Recommendations to CEC for Reallocation of Returned Funds
- Remotely attend the CEC’s Hydrogen Refueling Infrastructure Pre-Solicitation Workshop (Thursday, November 20th at 1pmPT)
Our recommendations incorporate flexibility, demonstrate market complexities, should be viewed as an integrated package, and prioritize:
1) Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) Gap Matching Program: This is the highest priority because it offers an immediate and direct mechanism to help lower retail hydrogen costs. By stimulating demand, this program will bridge the gap while LCFS credit values are recovering.
2) Improvement Grants: These flexible grants are designed to “improve existing or awarded Light Duty (LD) retail stations to achieve higher reliability leading to O&M cost reduction.” The benefits are intended to be realized as the Gap Matching Program funds ramp down, ensuring a smoother transition to station business sustainability.
3) New Station Development Grants: These grants will drive expansion, focusing on high-throughput stations and/or network gap areas.
4) Station Operational Status System (SOSS) Upgrades: Receiving unanimous support from our members, improvements to SOSS are critical. As the “connective tissue” of the retail hydrogen ecosystem, upgrades will strengthen the ability to facilitate accurate LCFS credit generation, enhance communication between automakers, and improve the overall Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) driver fueling experience.
H2FCP's proposed program structure enables the CEC to shift funding between categories based on applicant demand. This measured, flexible approach provides a balanced funding framework to “reinforce virtuous cycles of investment into this critical zero emission vehicle sector.”
Our work continues, and we remain committed to supporting the CEC’s mission and stand ready to provide additional input and technical assistance.
