Is this the future of housing in the US? Inside SoCalGas' 'Hydrogen Home' in Downey

DOWNEY, Calif. (KABC) -- Could this be the future of housing in America?

As the price of natural gas continues to rise, SoCalGas is showcasing their latest demonstration project that shows what the future of home energy systems could look like. It's called the Hydrogen Home and it acts as a miniature microgrid, according to the company. It's currently being built in Downey.

The 2,000 square foot home will store and provide resilient, low-carbon hydrogen power when energy is needed. The home is the first of its kind in the U.S. SoCalGas provided a tour of the home's construction site on Wednesday.

"This house will be powered by solar panels and hydrogen as well," said State Assembly Member for District 58 Cristina Garcia. "It won't feel any different than your home at the end of the day, but we will have no emissions coming out of this house, which is how we get a future that is bright for all of our kids."

The home will function and feel exactly like a regular home but uses reliable and clean energy all year long by drawing power from solar panels on sunny days and converting excess energy into clean hydrogen. The company says hydrogen will also be blended up to 20% with natural gas and used in the home's tank-less water heater, dryer, gas stove, fireplace and BBQ grill.

"What makes this novel and what makes it new is the energy that powers it, is the microgrid that's supporting it, so the solar panels where we source the hydrogen, the electrolyzer that converts the hydrogen and the fuel cell," explained SoCalGas president Maryam Brown. "I think that you see a lot of urgency and momentum around hydrogen and reason that you do is hydrogen is the one gas that when it combusts, it emits no carbon, so there's a lot of excitement to see the roles of hydrogen in decarbonizing our economy."

The company said if the energy system was constructed on a larger scale, it could power residential neighborhoods and businesses.