• U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) announced that he helped secure up to $1.2 billion from the U.S. Department of Energy to establish the Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems (ARCHES) hydrogen hub to produce and use renewable, clean hydrogen across California, according to an Oct. 13 statement from Padilla’s office. This investment is made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provides up to $7 billion to build six to 10 regional hydrogen hubs throughout the nation. ARCHES aims to establish a renewable, clean hydrogen market and ecosystem in California by 2030, creating a projected 220,000 jobs in the state and reducing harmful downstream emissions that disproportionately impact underserved communities and accelerate the climate crisis. California recently published a roadmap to carbon neutrality by 2045, which included a projected 1,700-fold increase in the use of hydrogen across multiple industrial sectors. ARCHES will help meet this ambitious goal by bringing together nearly 300 organizations across California representing state, county, and city governments; industry; community groups; universities; labor unions; nongovernmental organizations; and national labs to accelerate clean hydrogen’s market viability and decarbonize California’s economy. “Clean, renewable hydrogen power is essential to foster clean energy job growth and meet California’s ambitious carbon neutrality goals. Today marks a significant and decisive investment in decarbonizing our economy, with California and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law paving the way toward a clean energy future,” Padilla said in the statement. “This project will bring together leaders from across government, industry, labor unions, national labs, and more to jumpstart the market for renewable hydrogen and establish a sustainable, clean hydrogen hub by 2030.”
• Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 590, authored by Assemblymember Gregg Hart (D-Santa Barbara), which will help improve and expand the practice of providing nonprofits with advanced payments when they receive state grants and contracts, according to an Oct. 9 statement from Hart’s office. This legislation would help improve outcomes for nonprofits with limited resources serving vulnerable communities. “This legislation will remove a key funding barrier to bolster the nonprofit sector and outcomes for communities across California,” Hart said in the statement. “Providing nonprofits with upfront payments will ensure all nonprofits serving our communities have fair and equitable access to state funding.” Currently, nonprofits rely on a reimbursement model, according to the statement, and are often placed in the position of having to consider pursuing loans to cover costs associated with starting up state grants and contracts. For example, one nonprofit paid more than $28,000 in interest last year while waiting for payments from the state, according to Hart’s office.
• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) recently said that UC Santa Barbara will be one of the beneficiaries of the first major award from the CHIPS and Science Act, the manufacturing and research law that he helped pass in July 2022, according to an Oct. 4 statement from Carbajal’s office. A $27 million award funded by the 2022 law was announced by the U.S. Department of Defense for the California Defense Ready Electronics and Microdevices Superhub, which includes UC Santa Barbara along with 15 other institutions. This is the largest award to date from the CHIPS and Science Act, funding the establishment of eight Microelectronics Commons regional innovation hubs, two of which will be centered in California. The Microelectronics Commons program aims to accelerate domestic hardware prototyping and “lab-to-fab” transition of semiconductor technologies. This will help mitigate supply chain risks and ultimately expedite access in the United States to the most cutting-edge microchips, according to Carbajal’s office. “I am proud to have worked with my alma mater to ensure that UC Santa Barbara is part of this critical research—including passing this landmark law and working with them to secure this important investment,” Carbajal said in the statement. “The United States pioneered the microchip in the last century. Now, UCSB will be part of our efforts to once again put our nation on the cutting edge of semiconductor R and D—driving innovation in America and helping ensure critical components like these are immune to international supply chain shocks like we saw last year.”
This article appears in Oct 19-29, 2023.