In Ohio, Hydrogen Industry Presses On Despite Federal Uncertainty

Trump has pulled billions in funding for hydrogen, a sector that was already on shaky ground. Projects in Ohio are chugging along anyway.

For more than a decade, this hydrogen fueling station from Millennium Reign Energy has helped with fuel-cell research at The Ohio State University’s Center for Automotive Research. (Millennium Reign Energy)

Two years ago, the Biden administration announced $7 billion in funding for a nationwide network of hydrogen hubs meant to kickstart production of the alternative fuel.

Now, the Trump administration has cast doubt over the future of the program — including the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2), which features projects in Ohio.

>> In Other News: Westport Reveals CNG Solution For Natural Gas HPDI Engines And North America’s Clean Transportation Future

Despite the turbulence, industry leaders said they see a bright future for hydrogen in Ohio.

“We’re building businesses in this state regardless of that federal funding,” said Bill Whittenberger, Executive Director of the Ohio Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Coalition, at the group’s 2025 symposium, held Oct. 27 and 28 at the Honda Heritage Center in Marysville, Ohio. In his view, federal funding “makes things go a little faster, [but] there’s a strong business case for all the things we’re doing here.”

Many see hydrogen as necessary for decarbonizing hard-to-electrify operations, such as steel and glassmaking, as well as some transportation sectors.

The Biden administration’s hub initiative meant to change that by bringing down the cost of low-carbon hydrogen, which can be produced with renewable energy, nuclear power, or natural gas with carbon capture and storage.

The initiative sparked detailed planning for dozens of projects throughout the hub regions. In Ohio, proposals took on different shapes: one developer wanted to use solar power to make hydrogen for buses in Stark County, while another planned to derive the fuel from a chemical plant’s waste stream. Still others looked to expand storage and refueling operations in central and northeastern Ohio.

The Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act also created a lucrative federal tax credit for clean-hydrogen projects, an incentive that successful lobbying preserved through the end of 2027 in Republicans’ massive budget bill signed into law in July.

The Trump administration’s October cancellation of federal dollars for two of the hubs that focused on hydrogen from renewable energy raised urgent questions about the viability of many hydrogen ventures nationwide.

Still, conference attendees emphasized, some hydrogen projects are moving forward in Ohio.

There’s the plan from American Electric Power (AEP)’s Ohio utility to power data centers with fuel cells, for example. It’s part of a broader AEP partnership with Bloom Energy to acquire up to 1 gigawatt of fuel cells to help the giant computing facilities get online faster.

At the outset, though, the systems planned in central Ohio for Amazon Data Services and Cologix Johnstown will run on natural gas. Eventually, AEP has said, they could switch to run on hydrogen.