Texas legislators last year tasked the Railroad Commission with establishing the Texas Hydrogen Production Policy Council to oversee development of the state’s hydrogen potential.
The agency announced this week it has selected 11 council members to serve alongside Railroad Commission Chairman Christi Craddick. The first meeting was held in mid-December.
“Hydrogen is blowing and going in Texas, to say the least,” Susan Shifflett, executive director of the Texas Hydrogen Alliance.
Speaking with the Reporter-Telegram by telephone, she noted that representatives of five of her association's members — GTI Energy, Port of Corpus Christi, Chevron, CenterPoint Energy and Air Liquide — are on the council. The goal, she added, is to receive guidance on transporting, distributing and storing hydrogen.
Under the legislation, House Bill 2847, the council is tasked with making recommendations to the Legislature on updates necessary for the oversight and regulation of production, pipeline transportation and storage of hydrogen. Duties will include developing a state plan for hydrogen production oversight by the commission, analyzing the development of hydrogen industries around the state and monitoring regional efforts for the application and development of a clean hydrogen hub authorized under the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Shifflett said the recent selection of the Houston region for a federal Gulf Coast hydrogen hub, with $1.2 billion in federal funding available, is just the beginning of hydrogen development in Texas. Multinational majors like ExxonMobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips are looking at hydrogen and the effort is also attracting smaller companies and entrepreneurs.
(c)2024 the Midland Reporter-Telegram (Midland, Texas). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
