Click the image to read the full issue brief.

In October 2023, the Biden Administration awarded $7 billion of taxpayer dollars to kickstart the development of regional hydrogen hubs.

These hydrogen hubs will independently explore new ways to lower the cost of producing so-called clean hydrogen and find new and innovative uses for hydrogen fuel. While Colorado’s proposal for a Western Interstate Hydrogen Hub was not selected for funding, Colorado regulators, legislators, and utilities still see hydrogen playing a significant role in helping the state reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from its electricity sector and in-home appliances.

Despite promises of a clean hydrogen-powered future, hydrogen production and distribution are still avant-garde technologies. Retooling the economy to prematurely run on hydrogen will cost Coloradans dearly. Building hydrogen’s infrastructure could cost Colorado households as much as $4,800 per year for the next fifteen years.

Click here to read the full issue brief and see our policy recommendations.

Colorado Energy Office’s Economic Hindenburg: The Ballooning Costs of the Hydrogen Transition by Trevor Lewis.