On August 8, 2023, Governor Newsom announced his plans to build a hydrogen economy in California. California’s hydrogen framework will largely be implemented by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) with support from other state agencies. The Governor’s “Infrastructure Strike Team” will continue to help identify grants and shepherd projects through state and local approval processes. Governor Newsom’s announcement is an important development as the State pursues federal funding through ARCHES, a public-private partnership for a hydrogen hub consortium. New rules affecting the development and use of hydrogen will be evaluated in the SB 1075 report, which CARB plans to produce in Q2-24. Governor Newsom’s strategy will likely follow the zero emission vehicle (ZEV) rules, where CARB adopted a mixture of incentive, market based and command-and-control regulatory strategies to reach the State’s 2035 ZEV target. In addition to the SB 1075 report, CARB also has plans for updates to the Cap-and-Trade and Low Carbon Fuel Standard rules, which could affect hydrogen development and use. The listserve for the hydrogen strategy is available here. Governor Newsom Announcement is here.
Please contact Lynn Haug, Brian Biering or Andy Brown if you have any questions.
