A group of Northern New Mexico residents has joined together to oppose a green hydrogen power plant the Kit Carson Electric Cooperative plans to build in Questa. The Questa Watershed Protectors have several concerns about the proposed plant, including potential water usage. But the biggest overarching concern seems to be a perceived lack of available information and transparency from the coop.
The group's founder, Jessica Joseph, brought community members together last month to strategize ways to inform Questa-area residents. Joseph said many people she talks to don't know about the planned plant.
"It's all about education and informing people," Joseph said. "We keep asking questions and we can't get information.”
Joseph said she started the Questa Watershed Protectors when she was unable to access any information about the National Environmental Policy Act process for the Questa hydrogen plant. Since the 1970s, NEPA has required government agencies to evaluate the environmental impacts of any major developments they fund. Since the Questa plant is receiving funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it was subject to NEPA review. But, a Trump executive order and Supreme Court ruling, both in 2025, severely stripped down NEPA. NEPA was once binding regulation and now it's more of a suggestion, which means that each federal agency gets to make its own NEPA rules. The USDA determined that the Questa plant doesn’t require a full Environmental Assessment or Environmental Impact Statement.
Others in the community have voiced concerns about the lack of available research about hydrogen power. Hydrogen fuel cells were first invented in the 1800s but most large-scale hydrogen power projects are less than 15 years old and long-term data on safety and efficiency is scarce.
Joseph also noted a potential conflict of interest—Questa Mayor John Anthony Ortega is also a Kit Carson Electric employee.
"His uncle is also the president of the board of KCEC, and used to be the mayor," Joseph said. "So it's just all a little cozy.
In addition to the potential water usage, Joseph is also concerned about the combustibility of hydrogen and the proposed location of the plant.
"Right in town, near an elementary school, wedged up between a national monument," Joseph said.
While the plant was originally proposed to be at the Chevron mine, a preliminary site map that Joseph obtained shows a location within Questa city limits near Alta Vista Elementary and Intermediate School.
Joseph said the coop is pitching the plant as a way to ensure energy resiliency in times of dangerous weather events for the vulnerable people in the area.
"Surely there's got to be a lot of different ways that we can create community resiliency for vulnerable people without having to build a giant hydrogen plant and suck out our water," Joseph said.
