Newsom slams Trump over $1.2 billion cut to California hydrogen hub
Gov. Gavin Newsom late Wednesday denounced the Trump administration’s decision to cut funding for a hydrogen hub in California — one of the latest actions against green initiatives by the administration as it continues to embrace the “drill, baby, drill” slogan.
The rebuke followed the U.S. Department of Energy’s announcement of the termination of 223 projects approved under the Biden administration, including California’s ARCHES hydrogen hub, a project worth up to $1.2 billion and led by the Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems.
“In Trump’s America, energy policy is set by the highest bidder, economics and common sense be damned,” Newsom said in a statement.
“Clean hydrogen deserves to be part of California’s energy future…We’ll continue to pursue an all-of-the above clean energy strategy that powers our future and cleans the air, no matter what DC tries to dictate.”
Awarded in October 2023, ARCHES was designed to supply clean energy through two major power plants and other distributed sites across California, including the Los Angeles Scattergood plant and the Lodi Energy Center, according to the Department of Energy. The project was initially set to begin with “hydrogen blending with natural gas at the combined-cycle power plants before transitioning to 100 percent clear hydrogen.”
The department asserted that canceling 223 energy projects would save ratepayers about $7.56 billion, noting that many had been approved “with inadequate documentation by any reasonable business standard” in the waning months of the Biden administration, including 26 percent pushed through between Election Day and Inauguration Day.
Hours before the DOE announcement, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought hinted at the cancellations, describing the energy projects as “Green New Scam funding to fuel the Left’s climate agenda.”
Expressing disappointment with the decision, ARCHES CEO Angelina Galiteva emphasized that the projects were intended to create 220,000 jobs and provide “stronger national energy security and resilience.”
“The ARCHES Ecosystem and Marketplace will continue to advance in collaboration with state leaders and private sector innovators,” Galiteva added.
This story was originally published October 2, 2025 at 11:48 AM.
