By Valerie Volcovici
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The union representing U.S. carpenters has asked the Biden administration to ensure hydrogen projects powered by existing nuclear power plants will be able to access lucrative subsidies for clean fuel under the Inflation Reduction Act.
The half-million-member United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (UBC) is the latest voice to weigh in on a debate over whether to put guard rails on the potentially billions of dollars worth of clean hydrogen tax breaks in the IRA, Biden's landmark climate change law.
The Treasury Department is expected to release guidance on how to access the subsidies before the end of the year.
"The administration has supported a robust buildout of clean hydrogen, but realistically these goals can only be met if existing nuclear plants are incentivized to produce carbon-free hydrogen," UBC President Douglas McCarron wrote in a letter to White House adviser John Podesta, dated Oct. 3.
Other labor unions, including the United Association, representing pipefitters and other workers, have also joined major industry groups in lobbying for less restrictive requirements for using the tax credits.
Environmental groups, meanwhile, oppose the requests, and have asked Treasury to adopt an "additionality" clause requiring hydrogen producers to use new sources of clean electricity instead of tapping power already on the grid.
A provision like that would ensure an expansion of climate-friendly power alongside hydrogen, they say.
They also want projects to source locally produced clean energy, and are seeking "time-matching," which would ensure that electrolyzers used to produce hydrogen run at the same time as renewable energy to make sure they aren’t being powered inadvertently by fossil fuels.
The Nuclear Energy Institute has also called on the Biden administration to let nuclear plants get a boost from hydrogen subsidies and said it "is ready to make investments."