On October 13, 2023, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced that it had selected seven regional hydrogen hubs in Appalachia, California, the Gulf Coast, the Mid-Atlantic, the Midwest, the Pacific Northwest, and a Heartland hydrogen hub comprising Minnesota and the Dakotas.[1] The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) passed in 2021 set aside $8 billion to create Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs) nationwide. $1 billion of this funding will be spent on initiatives to support demand for clean hydrogen. The selected hubs are expected to collectively produce three million metric tons of hydrogen annually, nearly a third of the 2030 U.S. production target. The DOE also said these hubs will reduce 25 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from end-uses annually.

Each H2Hub was required to develop and ultimately implement a comprehensive Community Benefits Plan (CBP), which will be informed by community and labor engagements in each region. The DOE indicated that the selection for award negotiations was not final. The hubs are subject to a negotiation process, and the DOE may cancel negotiations and rescind the selection for any reason during that time. In September 2023, the DOE issued a Request for Proposals to solicit a U.S. entity to execute a demand-side initiative to ensure the clean hydrogen economy's long-term success and support the hubs' development. This initiative seeks to ensure that both producers and end users in the H2Hubs have market certainty.

[1] https://www.energy.gov/articles/biden-harris-administration-announces-7-billion-americas-first-clean-hydrogen-hubs-driving