Philly area’s MACH2 hydrogen hub funding could be on the chopping block, according to a report

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Money for the much-heralded hydrogen hub planned for the Philadelphia region could be headed for the scrap heap in the barrage of federal funding cuts under the direction of President Donald Trump, according to a Department of Energy document obtained by POLITICO.

The Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub, also referred to as MACH2, is a network of planned projects that would produce, process and use hydrogen in southeastern Pennsylvania, South Jersey and Delaware. It was among seven hubs across the country that received funding under former President Joe Biden’s administration, which touted the projects as a climate solution. MACH2 plans to produce hydrogen solely using renewable energy, nuclear and renewable natural gas.

But in a DOE spreadsheet that labelled hubs as “cut” or “keep,” MACH2 is among four marked “cut,” POLITICO reported.

Three other hubs, including the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub planned for West Virginia, Ohio and western Pennsylvania, were labelled “keep.”

“The Department of Energy is conducting a department-wide review,” said agency spokesperson Andrea Woods in an emailed statement to WHYY News in response to POLITICO’s reporting. “The review is ongoing, and speculation by anonymous sources about the results of the review are just that – speculation.”

Woods said the department is conducting a department-wide review to “ensure all activities follow the law and align with the Trump administration’s priorities.”

“The American people provided President Trump with a mandate to govern and to unleash ‘American Energy Dominance’,” she wrote. “The Department of Energy is hard at work to deliver on President Trump’s promise to restore affordable, reliable, and secure energy to the American people.”

A spokesperson for MACH2 declined to comment.

The news comes as the Trump administration moves to cut climate- and environmental justice-related funding. On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order directing agencies to halt grant payments under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which funded the hydrogen hubs. The hubs were also covered under Biden’s Justice40 initiative, which aimed to send 40% of the benefits of certain federal investments to communities that were “marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.”

A loss of federal funding could kneecap the hub, which is in the early planning stages. It’s been billed as a way to kickstart the hydrogen industry in the region and replace planet-warming fossil fuels used in heavy-duty trucks, buses and power generation.

The planned hubs slated to keep funding, according to the spreadsheet, would be powered at least in part by natural gas with carbon capture, POLITICO reported. The outlet also reported they are located in mostly Republican-leaning states.

Just two days before former Biden left office, the DOE approved MACH2 for up to $18.8 million in federal funding to match private investments in the hub’s first phase of development, which would include planning, preliminary engineering and community engagement. The hub is slated for a potential total federal cost share of up to $750 million over all phases of development.

One of the hub partners, a start-up called Aternium that plans to produce hydrogen, says it will continue regardless of whether the hub loses its federal funding. Founder and CEO Andrew Cottone said the company is currently looking to purchase real estate.

“A rising tide lifts all ships. We remain an anchor partner and a strong supporter of MACH2,” Cottone said in a written statement. “Aternium has consistently stated we have a responsible business model that will allow us to move forward with or without government subsidies.”

The hub has support from organized labor, including the Steamfitters Local 420.

“What does it mean to us and to labor in the Philadelphia region?” Steamfitters Local 420 business manager Jim Snell told WHYY last year. “To have something like this get awarded to us, a hydrogen hub, that industrial world coming back at some point — it’s jobs.”

But the DOE terminating MACH2’s funding agreement would be welcome news to environmental justice and climate advocacy organizations in the region.

Several groups released statements denouncing the Biden administration’s approval of funding for the hub’s first phase. Advocates fear hub operations could bring harmful health impacts to nearby communities and say the purported climate benefits of the hub are a ruse to help the fossil fuel industry. They also accuse the project of lacking transparency and community input.

“Since Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living has learned that our community will be impacted by MACH2 Hydrogen Hub we have pleaded for information on its projects. Repeatedly we have had doors closed in our face,” Zulene Mayfield, leader of Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living, said in a January press release. “Apparently they want to pollute us, but not talk to us. We say NO!!”

Tracy Carluccio, deputy director of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, another environmental advocacy organization that has sparred with proponents of the hub, said the news that the hub’s federal funding could be in jeopardy is not surprising given the hubs’ affiliation with Biden’s Justice40 initiative, which Trump rescinded on his first day in office

“Trump’s scorched earth prejudicial policy targeting environmental justice frontline communities is probably as big a factor in the decisions being made … as partisan politics,” Carluccio said. “Certainly MACH2 was not fulfilling its mandate to include the public and be transparent and accessible under Biden, and we assiduously complained about that, but that unfair process has continued and can be expected to get even worse under Trump.”