The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) passed on July 4, 2025, fundamentally alters clean hydrogen project economics.
While OBBBA offers some regulatory certainty, the new framework creates a pressing need for investment and complex compliance requirements that energy executives are advised to navigate with urgency.
CRA’s Energy expert Drake Hernandez co-authored the article, “The One Big Beautiful Bill has given the US hydrogen industry certainty-but where will the energy come from?” for Hydrogen Insight with Anne-Sophie Corbeau from Columbia University.
The article details what energy leaders need to know about timing, compliance, and competitive positioning in 2025:
- Investment timing pressure: Clean hydrogen projects must begin construction by December 2027 to qualify for 45V tax credits—a five-year acceleration from previous IRA timelines;
- Energy resource competition: Hydrogen energy projects now compete directly with data centers and hyperscalers for the same clean electricity and natural gas supplies; and
- Regulatory complexity: New compliance requirements under OBBBA’s “three-pillars” framework create navigational challenges requiring specialized expertise.
Read the article in Hydrogen Insight for more on both policy implications and the evolving opportunities across the energy sector that come with the passage of OBBBA.
