Indiana lawmakers show support for hydrogen hub project
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Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) and Congressman Frank Mrvan (D-IN) are urging the Trump administration to prioritize northwest Indiana as a hydrogen hub as the scope of the Biden-era initiative remains in doubt.
In a bipartisan letter to Energy Secretary Chris Wright, the lawmakers from Indiana highlighted the region’s manufacturing strength, energy infrastructure, and readiness to lead in blue hydrogen production using natural gas and carbon capture.
The Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen, or MachH2, was selected in 2023 to receive up to $1 billion from the U.S. Department of Energy to produce so-called blue hydrogen at or near the BP refinery in the northwest Indiana city of Whiting.
On Jan. 20, however, President Trump signed an executive order that paused the disbursement of funds and put the Indiana project in limbo, Inside INdiana Business reported.
Banks, a Republican, and Mrvan, a Democrat, are urging the administration to continue with the effort in northwest Indiana.
“Prioritizing a Hydrogen Hub in Northwest Indiana is a bold, pro-America decision that plays to our state’s strengths,” they said in the letter. “Indiana offers the Hoosier workforce, infrastructure and industrial knowledge to deliver results fast. This project is a key step in strengthening America’s energy dominance, ensuring we remain the world leader in energy production while creating jobs and boosting economic growth. We respectfully ask that the Administration make the Hydrogen Hub project in Indiana a top priority.”
In October 2023, President Biden announced seven regional clean hydrogen hubs were selected to receive $7 billion to accelerate the domestic market for low-cost, clean hydrogen. The MachH2 partnership was one of the seven hubs.
But now, the Trump administration is set to defund nearly 300 Department of Energy projects, including four of the seven hydrogen production hubs.
Politico in March reported that a list circulating inside the Energy Department suggested cutting funding for four of the hubs, including MachH2, in mostly Democratic-leaning states. The states involved in the MachH2 effort are Indiana as well as Kentucky, Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois.
MachH2 received $22.2 million in initial federal funding last November for the project’s first phase, which would support infrastructure building and workforce program development.