At a construction site along the Los Angeles River, just south of where four freeways converge in Vernon, a crane hoisted a set of massive white pipes into the air on a recent weekday morning.
The pipes will eventually be connected to fuel dispensers where they will serve as storage vessels for hydrogen—a growing yet controversial source of energy that some see as key to California’s ambitious climate goals.
The site is being developed by a New Jersey-based company called Avina in partnership with Vernon Public Utilities. When completed this October, it is planned to produce up to 4 metric tons of compressed green hydrogen a day to power heavy-duty trucks and buses, helping to clean up one of the worst polluting sectors in the state.
The facility is expected to eliminate approximately 130,000 metric tons of planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions annually, according to Avina. Company officials said it will be the largest clean hydrogen project with on-site dispensing—meaning pumps where fleets can refuel—in the country.
The project is rising in spite of a rapidly changing energy landscape in the United States. The Trump administration in recent months has slashed subsidies, grants and tax benefits that support wind, solar and renewable energy projects, while simultaneously championing fossil fuels in the name of energy independence. Trump received record donations from oil and gas interests during his 2024 presidential campaign.
Hydrogen has also been hit by the administration’s shifting objectives, with Trump’s landmark spending plan—the so-called Big Beautiful Bill—slated to end federal tax incentives for new hydrogen projects that break ground after Jan 1, 2028.
Already this year, the Department of Energy has canceled billions of dollars in funding for clean energy projects, and is considering slashing $1.2 billion for a major hydrogen hub in California awarded by President Joe Biden.
Yet even in the absence of such support, Southern California is doubling down on hydrogen, both as an investment and a pathway toward carbon neutrality.
“This is one of the reasons why we think California is really going to stand out,” said Vishal Shah, Avina’s founder and…
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