Clean Hydrogen Tax Credit (IRA)

Policy Engagement Overview

The current state of corporate advocacy on this policy is summarized below. The graph to the right of this page indicates InfluenceMap's capture of corporate positions on the policy, ranging from strong opposition to strong support. Both this page and the graph were last updated on May 30, 2025.

InfluenceMap analysis indicates high levels of engagement on the hydrogen tax credit, with over 50 companies and at least 19 industry groups advocating on the issue since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. This includes public comments to the official proposal, alongside wider engagement on the policy via press releases, CEO statements, letters, and responses to the non-regulatory docket. As visible from the graph to the right, the proposal faced significant opposition from the fossil fuel sector. However, a small group of companies and industry associations strongly supported the three pillars and warned policymakers of listening to oppositional narratives. Details on these trends in engagement are described below.

Support for Strong Guidance

• A group of industry voices, including companies along the hydrogen value chain, directly called for stringent rules to prevent loopholes that could increase emissions and redirect existing clean generation toward hydrogen production. This coalition – including Acciona, Air Products, and EDP Renewables – has repeatedly called upon federal policymakers to ensure that the hydrogen tax credit’s implementation guidance includes the three pillars. This advocacy includes several joint letters to policymakers throughout 2023, including a December 2023 letter emphasizing that weak rules would result in increased emissions and price increases. Enel and Clean Energy Buyers Association also expressed their support for stringent requirements, in December 2022 comments.

• This coalition warned policymakers against listening to oppositional narratives and emphasized a need to protect taxpayer dollars from funding fossil fuel expansion. Acciona stated in its Feburary 2024 public comments that “we disagree with assessments made publicly by others which suggest that the proposed regulations would result in increased clean hydrogen costs, delayed scale-up, and no net impacts to the transmission system or greenhouse gas emissions,” while Air Products warned in its March 2024 testimony that policymakers should be wary of companies asking them to “lower the bar” in “exchange for the most lucrative climate subsidies in the world.”

Opposition to Proposal

InfluenceMap analysis finds that oppositional narratives were overwhelmingly sourced from obstructive industry groups and companies that advocate against the transition of the energy mix, with a strategic framing of the proposed requirements as too stringent and costly. As such, negative corporate positions have concentrated on weakening the three pillars and advocating for exemptions and revisions to the tax credit’s lifecycle GHG emissions rate model (45VH2-GREET) that would qualify hydrogen produced from fossil fuels. These entities have repeated several narratives, among them a call for flexible rules in order to support the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Hydrogen Hubs and a warning that the US would lose its hydrogen leadership status to Europe and Asia.

• Opposition to all three pillars was expressed by companies and associations that continue to strategically advocate for fossil fuels, with many emphasizing that the US Treasury was acting beyond the congressional intent of the Inflation Reduction Act. Such opposition was expressed by industry groups that are not aligned with science-based policy, namely American Chemistry Council (ACC), American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), American Petroleum Institute (API), Business Roundtable (BRT), Edison Electric Institute (EEI), and National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), along with joint comments by the US Chamber and the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association (EMA). Airlines for America emphasized that the stringency of the three pillars would negatively impact the sector’s sustainable aviation fuel targets. Several industrial and chemicals companies also pushed back on all three requirements, including Air Liquide, Cummins, Mitsubishi Power Americas, and LyondellBasell. Energy companies BP, TC Energy, and Shell raised concerns with the three pillars, as did utility National Grid. American Clean Power Association (ACP), whose board includes strategically oppositional companies, targeted hourly matching while broadly supporting the other two pillars; at least one ACP member, Synergetic, resigned in protest of the group’s repeated advocacy throughout 2023 to weaken the hourly matching requirement.

• Many of these same entities advocated for the tax credit to allow different fossil fuel-based feedstocks for hydrogen production, and called for adjustments to the 45VH2-GREET model. Much of this advocacy was joined by calls for blending hydrogen with fossil fuels. InfluenceMap noted such engagement from industry groups ACC, American Exploration and Production Council, and Hydrogen Council. Several companies also advocated for greater accommodation for fossil fuels, namely energy companies EQT Corporation, ExxonMobil, Occidental, Siemens Energy, and Woodside, along with Air Liquide, Honeywell, Hyundai Motor Group, Mitsubishi Power Americas, and Dow. Utilities National Grid and Xcel also leveraged the opportunity to advocate for fossil gas infrastructure.

• A similar group of entities also advocated for expanding the renewable natural gas (RNG) market. Industry groups that specifically opposed the proposed “first productive use” requirement for RNG use included American Gas Association, AFPM, API, BRT, EEI, NAM, and US Chamber with EMA. Utilities that advocate for a long-term role for fossil fuels —NextEra and AltaGas subsidiary Washington Gas — also opposed this requirement, as did BP, LyondellBasell, and Shell. On top of opposing this requirement, CNX specifically advocated for the tax credit to facilitate coal mine methane feedstocks.

Opposition Prior to Release of Official Draft Guidance

InfluenceMap evidence indicates active engagement to weaken the implementation of the hydrogen tax credit in the buildup to the release of the draft guidance in December 2023. These engagements, including letters to policymakers and ad campaigns, emphasized feasibility, cost, and legal concerns with one or more pillars of clean hydrogen production. Several companies and industry groups that demonstrate negative positions on the energy transition – including US Chamber, Air Liquide, Constellation, Cummins, National Grid, and NextEra – advocated multiple times for weaker requirements.