LINCOLN — A Nebraska lawmaker is seeking to muscle up the state’s bid to become a “hydrogen hub” — a designation that could bring more than $1 billion in federal dollars to the area to help produce, store and use clean energy.

Sen. Bruce Bostelman of Brainard said that Nebraska, in partnership with Iowa and Missouri, was among 33 of 79 applicants encouraged by the federal government to move to the next stage of the selection process. He is now asking lawmakers, via Legislative Bill 565, to allocate $500,000 for engineering and other work necessary to help manage the hub and lay the foundation for even more federal funding.

Six to 10 regional hubs are to be named, perhaps by year’s end, said an official involved in the process.

LB 565 is an extension of sorts to legislation last year that created the state’s “hydrogen hub working group,” a team charged with applying for the designation. About $8 billion has been set aside, from the federal Infrastructure and Jobs Act, for the so-called H2Hubs program. It is aimed at linking producers with industrial users to expand the use of hydrogen to generate power or fuel planes, trains and tractors.

The local working group includes representatives of companies including Monolith Materials, Werner Trucking, Union Pacific, Nebraska Farm Bureau, Tallgrass Energy and the Nebraska Public Power District.

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