WASHINGTON – Today,U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper and John Barrasso led six of their Senate colleagues from Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Utah on a letter to U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm in support of the Western Interstate Hydrogen Hub LLC’s (WIH2) application for a Bipartisan Infrastructure Law-established grant program at the Department’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstration. WIH2 has proposed to fund hydrogen production, distribution, storage, and use in the Mountain West.

“If selected, this proposal would propel economic development in the region, advance a broad range of hydrogen production technologies and end-use applications, and help our nation to build a coast-to-coast integrated hydrogen network,” wrote the senators. “The WIH2 team estimates that the eight projects proposed in the region will create over 7,000 direct jobs during construction and operations and over 26,000 indirect jobs, supporting robust economic development.”

The eight senators from the four states represented in the proposal – Barrasso, Lujan, Lummis, Bennet, Lee, Heinrich, and Romney – joined Hickenlooper in his letter.

View the full letter below:

The Honorable Jennifer Granholm
Secretary
U.S. Department of Energy
1000 Independence Avenue SW
Washington, DC 20585

Dear Secretary Granholm:

We write to urge your full and fair consideration of the Western Interstate Hydrogen Hub, LLC’s (WIH2) application to the Office of Clean Energy Demonstration’s FOA-2779.  If awarded, WIH2 would fund hydrogen production, distribution, storage, and use in the Mountain West and adjacent regions.

The application submitted by WIH2 was put together by a consortium of four states – Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming – in partnership with a broad coalition of community and industry stakeholders. If selected, this proposal would propel economic development in the region, advance a broad range of hydrogen production technologies and end-use applications, and help our nation to build a coast-to-coast integrated hydrogen network.

The four states span a region with natural attributes well suited to hydrogen production and use. These include abundant wind, solar, and natural gas resources necessary to producing clean hydrogen at scale. The region also includes capacity for carbon storage and has developed the expertise to match. There is significant demand for clean hydrogen in the region as a feedstock, source of industrial heat, long-duration energy-storage medium, and more. The region’s plans also include the use of existing and new pipelines, as well as surface transport, within and beyond the four states, which would help build a natural bridge between eastern and western markets.

The WIH2 team estimates that the eight projects proposed in the region will create over 7,000 direct jobs during construction and operations and over 26,000 indirect jobs, supporting robust economic development. Communities interested in hosting projects include two coal-plant host communities and tribal partners directly participating in hydrogen production and use.

We all agree that building a Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub can help us move forward on the shared goals of energy security, decreased pollution, and job creation. We encourage your full and fair consideration of the application submitted by WIH2 LLC.