Amid growing opposition to the proposed Questa Hydrogen Project, Kit Carson Electric Cooperative on June 12 highlighted an independent safety review conducted by Sandia National Laboratories that found the project is following established safety standards and incorporates safeguards early in its design process.
The media briefing comes as a vocal group of residents and activists continues to challenge the project, raising concerns about hydrogen safety, wildfire risks, emergency preparedness and potential impacts on local groundwater supplies.
The review examined safety analyses commissioned by Kit Carson Electric Cooperative (KCEC) for the planned hydrogen energy storage facility in Questa. The project is intended to provide backup power during wildfire-related outages and other emergencies.
Dr. Chris LaFleur, research and development manager for Sandia National Laboratories’ Risk and Reliability Analysis Department, said one aspect that stood out was the project’s early focus on safety planning.
“One thing that we’re really impressed about is the early attention to safety,” LaFleur said, noting that a hazard and operability study was conducted when the project was only about 10% designed.
LaFleur said the safety analyses evaluated potential hazards including heat release, overpressure events and sound impacts. She also praised the work performed by BakerRisk, a consulting firm hired to conduct consequence modeling for the project.
“They already know about hydrogen,” LaFleur said. “Their work is good.”
Brian Ehrhart, a Sandia chemical engineer who participated in the review, said the analysis considered a range of potential accident scenarios and was designed to remain relevant as engineering details are finalized.
Still, opponents have continued to question whether hydrogen can be safely stored near the community and whether emergency responders would be adequately prepared in the event of an accident. Others have focused on water use and potential impacts to local aquifers.
Addressing those concerns, LaFleur said hydrogen is a flammable material but one that is governed by established engineering standards and safety protocols.
“We live with and work with a lot of flammable materials,” she said. “We know how they behave, and we know how to keep them in a non-flammable state or prevent incidents.”
LaFleur said hydrogen systems are designed with leak detection, pressure monitoring, automatic shutdown mechanisms and venting systems intended to prevent hazardous situations from escalating.
KCEC Chief Executive Officer Luis Reyes said the cooperative requested the independent review to provide additional reassurance to community members and to ensure safety remains central to the project.
“This project, since it’s going to serve both the public and be manned by our employees, we wanted to ensure that it was the safest plant that we could build,” Reyes said.
The facility would allow the cooperative to keep electricity flowing to parts of northern Taos County when power lines running through forested areas must be de-energized during periods of elevated wildfire danger. Reyes said the system could provide approximately two and a half days of backup power during extended outages.
The cooperative also plans to begin first-responder training in August as project planning continues.
Questions surrounding the project’s water usage remain unresolved. Reyes said the first phase of a groundwater study is expected to be completed within days, with a second phase examining groundwater flows to follow.
“We should have the entire water analysis done within four to five weeks, with the preliminary reports coming in a few days,” Reyes said.
Sandia officials noted that the laboratory’s review was funded through a U.S. Department of Energy technical assistance program rather than by KCEC itself.
The proposed hydrogen storage facility is part of KCEC’s broader effort to expand renewable energy and energy storage resources in northern New Mexico. A related solar facility is already under construction and approximately 10% complete, according to Reyes.
A new website was released to show residents how the project would look, visit https://kitcarson.com/see-the-questa-hydrogen-project-yourself/.