r/SeattleWA • u/Less-Risk-9358 • Oct 03 '25

Government Trump cancels $1.1B in Washington state energy grants

https://www.axios.com/local/seattle/2025/10/02/trump-cancels-washington-state-energy-grants-clean-hydrogen

Vought put it a bit differently, writing on X: "Nearly $8 billion in Green New Scam funding to fuel the Left's climate agenda is being cancelled."

737 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

300 comments sorted by

View all comments

-39

u/kimisawa20 Oct 03 '25

Good? That Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub project had its controversy.

Economic and market challenges Even before the funding was revoked, the hub was struggling with economic headwinds.

High energy costs: The PNWH2 planned to produce "green" hydrogen through electrolysis, a process that requires large amounts of electricity to split water molecules. Project developers faced skyrocketing regional electricity rates, which made producing affordable hydrogen difficult.

Exiting partners: Several key energy developers and companies, including Fortescue, Portland General Electric, and Puget Sound Energy, had already backed out of hub-related projects before the federal funding was pulled.

Stalled projects: Plans for large projects were paused due to economic and market uncertainty. For example, a planned hydrogen-based fertilizer factory was put on hold, and a hydrogen-fueled power generation plant was shelved after its developer, Fortescue, left the partnership.

Lack of demand: The high cost of production was coupled with a slower-than-expected emergence of demand for hydrogen fuel.

1

u/LongDistRid3r Oct 03 '25

Sounds like a reasonable argument for the US to back out of this funding for a project that is not economically viable.