Hydrogen could fill multiple gaps in the US energy system, but will energy regulations allow it to? Experts say green hydrogen will require a regulatory framework unlike any other in the energy industry.

"One of the things that gets lost when we have a conversation about the grid, is once the hydrogen is available, it has all this utility outside the power grid," Edwards said. "A grid operator managing a hydrogen storage facility doesn't have to sell it as electricity to go back into the grid. ... That is one of the places hydrogen has this strength of flexibility, but it means the regulatory framework needs to be flexible in that same sense."