A proposed hydrogen energy project at a long-standing Kern County refinery is raising concerns among residents and environmental advocates, who say the development could increase pollution, strain local resources, and proceed without proper environmental review.

Vivyana Prado, a staff attorney with the Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, spoke with Kern Sol News about the concerns that have been voiced since learning about the project. 

Prado emphasized that the hydrogen project represents a major shift for the refinery, moving it into a new and untested energy market.

The project would be placed in Fuller Acres, a community already dealing with unsafe drinking water. The pollution would affect not only them but also the surrounding areas of Athal, which also lack clean drinking water, and Lamont.

“It’s not fair that the community of Fuller Acres, Lamont, Athal, and all the other surrounding communities are going to be on the front lines once again of a new form of energy when we don’t know the long-term impacts of the hydrogen market,” she explained.

The project, which was announced by Kern Energy in February 2025, plans to store and utilize co-produced hydrogen using Claire Technologies’ patented liquid storage system and seven hydrogen-powered fuel cells from HyAxiom, Inc. Kern Energy says the initiative aims to reduce its carbon footprint while improving operational efficiency and is expected to come online in 2027.

According to a project summary submitted to the San Joaquin Valley Air District, the refinery would install a hydrogen purification unit, storage system, and fuel cell generators to produce electricity on-site using hydrogen already generated during refining. The system would purify hydrogen by removing hydrocarbons, then either use it immediately in fuel cells or store it in liquid form by combining it with toluene to create methylcyclohexane, which can later be converted back into hydrogen for energy use.

The project summary states that the fuel cells would generate “zero emissions” electricity. However, the project is still expected to emit small amounts of volatile organic compounds—about 1.3 pounds per day—from new piping components, which would be monitored and maintained under air district rules. A health risk assessment found emissions to be below state thresholds.

Prado raised safety concerns about the flammability of hydrogen and the risks of using infrastructure originally designed for natural gas. She explained that hydrogen is more likely to leak because of its small molecular size, which could make existing pipelines and tanks less safe.

“What’s going to happen if there is a large fire? That’s going to require access to large quantities of water, and the community already has such limited access to water,” she said. “So there needs to be also considerations for emergency planning, which, again, neither the county nor the Air District has conducted nor presented to the community.”

Beyond safety, Prado emphasized that the project would have significant environmental consequences for the community. She noted that the hydrogen initiative could extend the refinery’s operations, locking in pollution for longer periods. 

Prado also highlighted a critical gap in community engagement and transparency. Residents only learned about the project because the Leadership Counsel shared notice with them, not through government agencies.

“So the lack of transparency and communication and authentically including residents in decision making about what’s going on in their neighborhoods is very much so missing,” Prado said.

She added that the residents’ immediate reaction was frustration.

She shared that, “When residents first found out about this project, their immediate response was, ‘This is not fair. We’re already struggling to address all of the issues that the existing environmental burdens have created in our neighborhood. We’re already struggling with just the oil and gas refining operations in our neighborhood. We don’t know what this is going to bring, and we don’t have the capacity to deal with any more burdens.’”

The refinery is located within an AB 617-designated community, a state initiative to identify areas disproportionately impacted by air pollution and develop local plans to reduce emissions. Prado went on to explain how the project conflicts with these goals.

“Kern Energy is within the boundaries of the AB 617 community, and it’s been identified by residents as a primary concern of air pollution. And this hydrogen project is only increasing the air pollution and increasing the environmental effects of that refinery within the neighborhood,” she stated.

Community members also questioned what benefits the project would bring locally. At a public hearing in Lamont on January 12, the refinery said the project could create nine jobs, but questions about whether those jobs would go to local residents were ignored.

“Residents repeatedly asked both the Air District and the refinery whether those jobs are going to be available to the local community. And that question was ignored and evaded multiple times. So it leads us to believe that they will not be available to the local community,” Prado stated.

Kern Sol News made multiple attempts to contact Kern Energy to learn more about how the project would benefit the community and whether the expected jobs would be available to local residents. As of publication, the company had not responded to requests for comment.

Prado stressed that sustainability in Fuller Acres and the surrounding communities is not about new energy development, but about improving residents’ quality of life.

“Residents truly want access to fresh water. Access to clean, reliable water, streetlights, public infrastructure, sidewalks, parks, roads that are well maintained,” shared Prado. “So instead of adding on more environmental burdens, stop and follow through with residents’ concerns.”

While the air district’s decision on the Authority to Construct (ATC) permit is pending, Prado noted that the approval of this permit may represent the community’s final meaningful opportunity to influence the project and requested that the Air District exercise discretion in potentially denying approval.