Questa Superfund Site to Host 50MW Solar + Green Hydrogen
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- Kit Carson Electric Cooperative (KCEC) is developing the Questa Hydrogen Project at a former Chevron molybdenum mine and Superfund site in New Mexico, backed by $231 million in USDA funding announced January 13, 2025 under the Biden administration
- The project includes a 50-megawatt solar array in Questa plus hydrogen facilities in the Town of Taos and the federally recognized Picuris Pueblo and Taos Pueblo tribes
- Chevron switched the project's water source from treated wastewater to a designated groundwater well, sparking local opposition amid the region's 25-year megadrought; KCEC counters that the New Mexico State Engineer found no adverse effect on the aquifer at up to 250 acre-feet per year
- The green hydrogen system will provide up to 16 hours of long-duration storage, 4-6 times more than KCEC's existing battery systems, extending the coop's 100% daytime solar achievement to nighttime power
- The project must reach 10% completion by July 4 to qualify for federal tax credits; KCEC says the solar phase is on track, though the Questa Village Council still needs to approve a power purchase agreement
- The Questa project survived Trump's clawback of the DOE's $7 billion Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs program because it was funded through the separate USDA Empowering Rural America program rather than the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law hydrogen hubs
Why it matters: For a rural electric cooperative serving persistent-poverty counties in New Mexico, repurposing a Superfund site into round-the-clock clean power is a model that bypassed the federal hydrogen program Trump gutted. The July 4 tax-credit deadline and a water-source switch to groundwater during a 25-year megadrought are the two near-term tests that will determine whether the project delivers on its 16-hour storage promise.
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