Association Lauds State Efforts to Promote Fuel Cell Industry

Comprehensive Report Examines Policies and Programs that Benefit Fuel Cell Technologies

(Washington, DC) – December 12, 2014 - States across the country are setting policies, providing funding, encouraging collaboration, and promoting deployments to keep the U.S. at the forefront of the fuel cell industry, according to the new U.S. Department of Energy Fuel Cell Technologies Office (DOE FCTO) report, State of the States: Fuel Cells in America 2014 (http://energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/downloads/state-states-fuel-cells-america-2014).


Due to fast growing interest from customers wanting to deploy clean and reliable power, fuel cells are gaining market share in a wide range of sectors. These successes have been helped by state policies that encourage end-users to deploy clean energy technologies, especially those that promote fuel cells and the growth of successful fuel cell businesses within the states.

"State policies and incentives have proven very effective in expanding the number of fuel cells in primary and backup power, vehicles, and materials handling equipment and are helping to grow the fuel cell industry," said Morry Markowitz, Executive Director of the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association. "Fuel cells are a clean and reliable energy technology that helps businesses and municipalities meet emission reduction goals and clean energy targets, while adding manufacturing jobs and growing our economy."

The U.S. is the leader in fuel cell materials handling equipment, telecommunications backup power systems, and in the number of stationary fuel cell power systems supplying power to buildings and data centers. The U.S. is one of the top countries in the deployment of multi-megawatt utility fuel cell systems, with 30 MW of fuel cells supplying power to Delaware's power grid and a 14.9-MW fuel cell power park supplying grid power in Bridgeport, Connecticut. In addition, commercial fuel cell vehicles are now available to customers in southern California. The U.S. is also home to major fuel cell manufacturers and key component suppliers, cutting-edge university research and partnerships, and numerous patents.

The new report provides in-depth profiles of fuel cell and hydrogen policies, initiatives, and installations and includes a detailed overview of the successful efforts of the Top Five Fuel Cell States – California, Connecticut, New York, Ohio and South Carolina – as well as other states, with long-standing or new-found support, that are helping to move the U.S. fuel cell industry forward (Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Hawaii, and others). Multi-state fuel cell efforts are also highlighted, as well as efforts by northeastern states to improve power grid resiliency in the face of devastating storms. For example:

• California, a Top Five Fuel Cell State, is providing $46.6 million to open 28 new hydrogen fueling stations and has expanded incentive funds that help consumers buy zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs).
• The governors of Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont joined California in signing a ZEV memorandum of understanding (MOU) and released a collective Action Plan to put 3.3 million battery electric and fuel cell electric vehicles onto their roadways by 2025.
• Connecticut's Microgrid Pilot Program has committed more than $2.2 million for a fuel cell project to help increase power resilience during extreme weather in Bridgeport.
• New Jersey is promoting onsite power generation through its Combined Heat & Power and Fuel Cell (CHP-FC) program. The program offers incentives to site all-electric and CHP fuel cells distributed generation throughout the state.

This report is the fifth in a series. In 2010, DOE FCTO published State of the States: Fuel Cells in America, with follow-up reports in 2011, 2012, and 2013. All provide a comprehensive analysis of state activities supporting fuel cell and hydrogen technology, Top Five rankings, and a catalog of recent installations and deployments in each state. The free reports can be downloaded from DOE's website: http://energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/market-analysis-reports.

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The Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association (FCHEA) is the trade association for the fuel cell and hydrogen energy industry, representing fuel cell manufacturers, automobile companies, hydrogen and fuel distributors, components and systems manufacturers, government laboratories, and trade associations. Visit us online at www.fchea.org.

The report authors are available for interviews or comments:

Sandra Curtin
scurtin@fchea.org / (202) 261-1338

Jennifer Gangi
jgangi@fchea.org / (202) 261-1339

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