If adopted by the California State Assembly this month, AB 1550 by Assembly Member Steve Bennett (D-Ventura) threatens to severely delay hydrogen production and deployment in California and risks approximately $10 billion in private investment needed to support California’s hydrogen hub expansion.

In an attempt to define what constitutes “green” or “renewable” hydrogen, this measure would limit feedstock pathways for clean hydrogen production by excluding the use of dairy biomethane .  The use of biomethane in decarbonizing industry sectors and supporting the deployment of emerging technologies is acknowledged by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in its 2022 Scoping Plan Update.  This position was further reiterated, as it relates to hydrogen, in their recent Initial Statement of Reasons (ISOR) for the proposed amendments to the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), where CARB expressed that “[e]liminating biomethane pathways used to produce hydrogen may unduly restrict the development of low-CI hydrogen supply that California needs in order to displace fossil fuels.”

Additionally, AB 1550, as amended, seeks to limit the deliverability of clean, decarbonized hydrogen in California based on draft concepts related to preliminary discussion regarding a future federal tax credit for hydrogen projects.  Imposing any time and use restrictions on California’s emerging hydrogen market that are still being vetted and have yet to be adopted is not only unwise but premature and risky.

Hydrogen fuel has a promising future in California and policy makers should take a measure approach to building out this growing technology. This is why CRTA, joined by numerous organizations representing the hydrogen industry, labor trade groups, and renewable fuel providers and end-users, oppose AB 1550. We support the sustainable deployment of clean, renewable hydrogen in California.