October 17, 2023

ICYMI: MANCHIN HOSTS ENERGY SECRETARY GRANHOLM TO CELEBRATE APPALACHIAN HYDROGEN HUB

Morgantown, WV — Yesterday, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, was joined by Jennifer M. Granholm, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in Morgantown, West Virginia, to celebrate the selection of the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2) to develop a hydrogen hub with a focus on counties in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Kentucky. Chairman Manchin and Secretary Granholm were joined by Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV); Former Congressman David McKinley; Tom Bloom, Monongalia County Commissioner; Josh Sword, President, WV AFL-CIO; Toby Rice, Chief Executive Officer, EQT; Andy Marsh, Chief Executive Officer, Plug Power; Lou Von Thaer, Chief Executive Officer, Battelle; David Crane, Under Secretary for Infrastructure, U.S. Department of Energy; and Mitch Landrieu, White House Implementation Coordinator for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The announcement that ARCH2 will develop a hydrogen hub makes available up to $925 million in federal support under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that will bring a hydrogen hub to West Virginia. Chairman Manchin’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law included $8 billion for Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs to jumpstart the production, transport, and use of clean hydrogen across the U.S. As a Hydrogen Hub selectee, ARCH2 will develop a network of hydrogen-based energy and products manufacturing in West Virginia. The Hub is projected to create over 20,000 jobs, with the majority of those in West Virginia. The $925 million in federal funding is expected to unlock up to $6 billion in additional private-sector matching funding.

“We’ve done everything this country has asked us to do. We’ve done all the heavy lifting; we’ve done the dirty work — never complained at all. We’ve given everything we had and then we weren’t good enough, we weren’t clean enough, we weren’t smart enough and now all of a sudden, they’re going to cast us aside. Well, let me tell you one thing, we have arrived, and we are here today to show the rest of the world what we can do for the energy this country needs and the world needs. The innovation and creation will start here,” said Chairman Manchin during his remarks.

“In West Virginia, you are going to be leading the nation in this new clean energy world. This is creating a whole new energy economy. Your offtakes here are heavy-duty vehicles, quarry trucks, ammonia, power generation, steel, industrial heat, data centers are going to be using this, residential fuel cells for remote areas. All sorts of uses. All sorts of businesses. All sorts of infrastructure that’s needed and that’s what’s going to create thousands and thousands of good-paying jobs,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm during her remarks. 

“It was great to be in West Virginia to celebrate the new Appalachian Clean Hydrogen Hub. This investment - which is going to boost domestic manufacturing, create good paying jobs, and drive $6 billion in private sector investment - is a perfect example of how President Biden is growing our economy from the middle out and bottom up. Through our partnership with leaders like Senator Manchin, Senator Moore Capito, and many others, we are building a clean energy future that works for working people,” said Mitch Landrieu, White House Coordinator for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law included $9.5 billion for hydrogen. In addition to the $8 billion for Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs that will jumpstart the production, transport, and use of clean hydrogen across the U.S. economy, it also included $1 billion for a Clean Hydrogen Electrolysis Program to reduce costs of hydrogen produced from electricity, and $500 million for Clean Hydrogen Manufacturing and Recycling initiatives to support equipment manufacturing and strong domestic supply chains. The legislation also ensured at least one hub would be located in Appalachia as the largest natural gas producing region.   

A timeline of the West Virginia Hydrogen Hub Coalition’s work is available below:

  • On February 15, 2022, Senators Manchin and Capito, Representative McKinley and Governor Justice announced the launch of the West Virginia Hydrogen Hub Coalition to collaborate and support a strong West Virginia candidate to be chosen to develop a hydrogen hub, funded through $8 billion allocated to the U.S. Department of Energy by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
  • On February 25, 2022, Senators Manchin and Capito, Representative McKinley and Governor Justice convened the initial organizing meeting of the West Virginia Hydrogen Hub Coalition. 
  • On March 21, 2022, Senators Manchin and Capito, Representative McKinley and Governor Justice submitted the West Virginia Hydrogen Hub Coalition’s official response to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) first step in the process to select winning hydrogen hubs funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. 
  • On April 28, 2022, Senators Manchin and Capito, Representative McKinley and Governor Justice welcomed bipartisan members of West Virginia’s legislative leadership to the West Virginia Hydrogen Hub Coalition, including Speaker of the House Roger Hanshaw, President of the Senate Craig Blair, Senate Minority Leader Stephen Baldwin and House Minority Leader Doug Skaff.
  • On July 28, 2022, Senators Manchin and Capito and Governor Justice convened a robust group of energy industry leaders for a morning of panel discussions and presentations on hydrogen.
  • On September 28, 2022, Senators Manchin and Capito, Representative McKinley and Governor Justice announced their support for the new Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub, comprised of over 40 entities.
  • On January 17, 2023, Senators Manchin and Capito and Governor Justice applauded ARCH2’s announcement that the Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations encouraged the Hub to submit a full application.
  • On April 11, 2023, Senators Manchin and Capito and Governor Justice applauded the ARCH2 team for submitting their application to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations.
  • On October 13, 2023, Senator Manchin announced that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has selected the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2) for up to $925 million in federal support under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that will bring a hydrogen hub to West Virginia. 

To view photos from the event, click here.

To view a recording of the event, click here.

To learn more about hydrogen hubs, please click here.

To learn more about hydrogen in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, please click here.

To learn more about the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub, please click here.