Influential politicians from both parties have taken part in the hub coalitions.
Sen. Joe Manchin, the Democratic chair of the Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee, helped convene a blue hydrogen-oriented coalition in West Virginia. Democratic governors like New York’s Kathy Hochul and California’s Gavin Newsom have championed green hydrogen’s role in their own states’ plans. And Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican, asked the Energy Department last year to devote “all available resources” to a $3 billion concept in which solar-derived hydrogen would be stored in an enormous underground salt cavern.
Some of the energy sector’s most powerful players are involved in hub plans, too. They include several of the nation’s biggest power utilities, like Duke Energy Corp. and Dominion Energy Inc. Also involved are the country’s largest natural gas producer, EQT Corp.; officials at the Port of Long Beach and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; steelmakers like Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. and Nucor Corp.; and gray hydrogen producers like Linde PLC.
Most of the coalitions have offered relatively scant details on what they are proposing. But some, like those led by California and New York, have emphasized green hydrogen’s role in their plans. Others, like those from Midwest and Southeast states, have referenced the pink or blue types.