Profile AnalysisPrint State Energy Profile
(overview, data, & analysis)
Last Updated: June 20, 2024
Overview
Colorado ranks among the top 10 states in total energy production.
Colorado, a Rocky Mountain state, has abundant fossil fuel reserves and renewable energy resources.1 Its diverse geography and geology include the headwaters of major rivers; significant wind and solar energy resources; and substantial deposits of crude oil, natural gas, and coal.2,3,4,5 Colorado ranks among the top 10 states in total energy production.6 Colorado is the eighth largest state in terms of land area, at about 104,000 square miles.7 Wide plains, already more than half a mile above sea level at the Kansas border, meet the mountains that run through Colorado's center.8,9 Nearly 9 in 10 Colorado residents live in metropolitan areas at the base of the Range, along the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains, leaving much of the state's mountainous areas and plains sparsely populated.10
Weather fronts can move in from the west across the mountains or from the east across the plains. Temperatures vary widely, depending on elevation and season, and have reached records of 115°F on the plains and 61°F below zero in the mountains.11 Colorado is a winter sports destination, and about 1 in 20 houses is occupied only seasonally.12,13
Colorado has a diverse economy. Despite its energy intensive mining and oil and gas industries, the amount of energy used to produce one dollar of Colorado's gross domestic product (GDP) is less than in about four-fifths of the states.14 The largest contributors to the state's GDP include finance, insurance, and real estate; professional and business services; and government.15 Five major military installations are based in Colorado, including the United States Air Force Academy, North American Defense Command, U.S. Northern Command, Peterson Space Force Base, and the National Cybersecurity Intelligence Center.16 For the fiscal year 2022, the defense sectors contributed $12.9 billion to the state's economy.17 Partly as a result, Colorado's per capita energy consumption is lower than two-thirds of the states.18 The transportation sector is Colorado's leading energy consumer, accounting for 28% of the state's total energy use, followed closely by the industrial sector at 28%, the residential sector at 26%, and the commercial sector at 19%.19
Petroleum
Colorado is the fourth-largest oil-producing state and accounts for almost 4% of U.S. total crude oil output.20 The state has nearly 4% of the nation's economically recoverable crude oil reserves.21 In 2023, Colorado produced more than twice as much crude oil than in 2010, primarily from the increased use of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies.22,23 The state's crude oil production in 2023 was the highest in three years.24
About four-fifths of Colorado’s crude oil production comes from Weld County.
Most of Colorado's crude oil production comes from the Niobrara Shale formation located in the Denver-Julesburg Basin in northeastern Colorado, where crude oil output in one county, Weld, is the source of 8 out of every 10 barrels of crude oil produced in the state.25,26 The Wattenberg field, much of which is in Weld County, in the northern part of the state, is among the top 10 U.S. oil and natural gas fields based on proved reserves.27,28,29 The Piceance Basin in the western mountain region is the other primary crude oil-producing area in Colorado.30,31
Northwestern Colorado overlays part of the Green River oil shale, a kerogen-rich formation.32,33 Kerogen is an organic material found in some sedimentary rocks that can be heated to extract crude oil.34 Although pilot oil shale projects were attempted in the area, obtaining crude oil from kerogen is not currently economically viable.35,36,37
Colorado has two petroleum refineries in the Denver area, with a combined capacity to process 103,000 barrels of crude oil per calendar day into motor gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt, jet fuel, and other petroleum products.38,39 Upgrades to the refinery have made it possible to make refined products that meet clean fuel standards and process more crude oil from Canada's tar sands.40 With crude oil production from the Niobrara Shale increasing and exceeding refining capacity, more pipelines are being built or repurposed to move Colorado crude oil to refineries out of state.41 Demand for refined petroleum products in Colorado is about two-and-a-half times more than the state's refining capacity.42,43 Several petroleum product pipelines, primarily from Wyoming, Texas, and Kansas, help supply the Colorado market, and refined products are also brought in by rail and truck.44,45,46,47,48
The transportation sector accounts for more than four-fifths of all petroleum consumed in Colorado, followed by the industrial sector with about one-eighth. The residential and commercial sectors accounted for the rest.49 The Denver-Boulder and Fort Collins metropolitan areas use motor gasoline oxygenated with ethanol to limit smog formation.50,51 The rest of the state is allowed to use conventional motor gasoline.52 Colorado has three fuel ethanol plants with a combined production capacity of 160 million gallons per year. Those facilities mainly use corn as their feedstock.53,54
In May 2024, Colorado's governor signed legislation into law that enacts a new fee on oil and gas production and changes the state's pollution laws. The legislation imposes a sliding-scale fee, equivalent to a surcharge of about 0.5% on each barrel oil produced, on oil and gas production that would be used to fund public transit and fund efforts by Colorado Parks and Wildlife to acquire and conserve wildlife habitat to offset the impacts of oil and gas development.55 Additionally, localities in and around the Denver metro area have failed to meet the Environmental Production Agency's health standards for ozone. The legislation proposes a series of changes to permitting and enforcement rules, giving the state's Energy and Carbon Management Commission more power to penalize operators and address the problem of orphaned wells. It would also codify a mandate for oil and gas producers to reduce emissions of ozone precursors.56
Natural gas
Colorado has the eighth- largest natural gas reserves in the United States.
Colorado has the eighth-largest natural gas reserves of any state, accounting for almost 4% of the U.S. total.57 It is also the eighth-largest natural gas-producing state in the nation.58 Colorado's marketed natural gas output had a slight decline from 2022 to 2023, but the overall volume of marketed natural gas was still more than double from 2000.59 Colorado is home to all or part of 11 of the nation's 100 largest natural gas fields.60
Colorado's largest natural gas-producing regions are in the Denver-Julesburg Basin in the northeast and in the Piceance Basin in the west.61 As natural gas prices fluctuate, some drilling activity moved from the Piceance, which produces mainly dry natural gas, to the Denver-Julesburg Basin, which produces higher-value crude oil and natural gas liquids.62,63 The San Juan Basin that stretches across the Colorado-New Mexico border is also a major natural gas-producing area, though output there has declined in recent years.64
Colorado is the top producer of coalbed methane gas, which is a type of natural gas extracted from coal seams.65 Production of coalbed methane gas grew rapidly in the 1990s and usually accounted for about one-third of Colorado's total marketed natural gas production during that period. Production of coalbed methane declined about 50% from 2010 to 2022. However, Colorado remains the top coalbed methane-producing state, accounting for almost about one-third of U.S. production in 2022.66,67 The San Juan and Raton Basins, located in the southern part of the state, produce nearly all of the state's coalbed methane.68
The residential sector is Colorado's largest consumer of natural gas, accounting for more than one-third of the state's natural gas demand, followed by the electric power sector at about three-tenths.69 About 7 out of 10 Colorado households use natural gas as their primary home heating source.70 Natural gas consumption for electricity generation has increased for the past two years, as natural gas prices declined.71,72,73 The industrial sector accounts for about one-fifth of the state's natural gas use, followed by the commercial sector at about one-seventh. The state uses only about one-fourth of the natural gas it produces.74,75
Several major interstate pipelines cross Colorado and ship natural gas to six U.S. states.76,77 The state has two natural gas trading hubs at interstate pipeline interconnections.78 The larger Cheyenne hub, near the Colorado-Wyoming border, is located in the Denver-Julesburg Basin, and the White River hub is located in the Piceance Basin.79,80 Colorado has 10 underground natural gas storage fields and just over 141 billion cubic feet of combined storage capacity, equal to 1.5% of the U.S. total.81 The state's storage capacity has remained steady since 2019.82,83
Coal
Colorado ranks eighth among the states in estimated recoverable coal reserves.84,85 The state produces coal from both underground and surface mines. Currently, mining is focused in the Green River, Piceance, and San Juan Basins.86,87 Colorado's coal is used almost entirely for electricity generation, but the market for the state's coal has decreased and several Colorado mines have closed as the share of U.S. electricity generated by coal-fired power plants continues to decline.88,89,90,91 However, coal production saw almost an 8% increase in 2022 due to a rise in domestic demand due to higher natural gas prices.92,93,94,95 About one-third of the coal mined in Colorado is used for power generation within the state. Colorado coal is also transported for electric power generation or used at industrial plants in 18 other states.96,97
Electricity
Colorado’s electricity generation from renewable energy sources more than quadrupled between 2010 and 2023.
Coal-fired power plants accounted for 32% of the state's total electricity net generation in 2023, down from 68% in 2010. However, in 2022, coal-fired plants supplied almost half of Colorado's net electricity generation, as higher natural gas prices made coal-fired generation more economical.98,99 Colorado's power plant operators plan to continue to replace coal-fired capacity with generating capacity fueled by natural gas and renewable energy sources due to economic and regulatory considerations.100,101,102 By 2029, about 2,500 megawatts of coal-fired generating capacity in Colorado is scheduled to retire.103 Renewable energy provided almost two-fifths of the state's electricity net generation in 2023. Since 2010, Colorado's renewable electricity net generation has more than quadrupled. In 2023, natural gas provided 29% of the state's total electricity generation, followed by wind energy with 28%. The rest of Colorado's in-state electricity generation was provided by utility- and small-scale solar and hydroelectric power.104
Colorado does not have any nuclear power plants.105 The state does have some uranium deposits, but no uranium has been mined since 2005.106,107 However, there are plans to begin mining uranium and a uranium mill in western Colorado is still being considered.108,109
Colorado uses less electricity per capita than three-fourths of the states.110 The commercial and residential sectors are the largest consumers of electricity in Colorado. Together they account for nearly three-fourths of the state's total power use, followed by the industrial sector at just over one-fourth.111 About one in four Colorado households use electricity as the main home heating source.112 Typically, total electricity consumption exceeds in-state generation, but in 2022 in-state generation exceeded electricity consumption.113 The state receives electricity from Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, New Mexico, and Utah over high voltage interstate transmission lines.114 June 2023 marked the groundbreaking for the TransWest Express project, a new 600 kilovolt, 730 mile interregional transmission line that will extend from south-central Wyoming through northwestern Colorado and central Utah, ending in southern Nevada. Once completed, the transmission line will provide 3,000 megawatts of new transmission capacity.115,116,117
In 2018, Colorado launched the Electric Vehicle (EV) Fast-Charging Corridor grant program to develop EV fast-charging infrastructure in the state to promote the adoption of EVs.118,119 In 2024, Colorado's Governor and the Colorado Energy Office announced $21 million in grant awards through the Direct-Current Fast-Charging Plazas program. Funded through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program, part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and the state's Community Access Enterprise, these grants will create 290 new fast charger ports at 46 different sites across the state. This will increase Colorado's existing public fast-charger network of more than 1,000 ports by about 28%.120 Colorado currently has more than 2,100 public electric vehicle charging locations, ranking seventh among states.121 Colorado is 1 of 18 states that adopted the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) program.122 The ZEV program requires automakers to sell a specific number of no or low-emissions vehicles and invest in clean technology.123 In March 2023, Colorado released the 2023 Colorado EV Plan, with a goal to increase the share to at least 70% of new vehicle sales by 2030.124
Renewable energy
In 2023, renewable sources of energy accounted for 39% of Colorado's total in-state electricity net generation. Wind power accounted for the largest share of Colorado's renewable electricity generation at 70%, followed by combined utility-scale (1-megawatt or larger) photovoltaic and small-scale (less than 1 megawatt) solar at 23%. Hydroelectric power accounted for 6% and biomass less than 1%.125
Colorado ranks sixth nationwide in installed wind power capacity.
Colorado has significant wind energy resources on its eastern plains and mountain crests and ranks sixth nationwide in installed wind power generating capacity.126,127 The state's use of wind power was almost five times greater in 2023 than it was in 2010.128 In December 2023, one new wind power project, the Bronco Plains Wind Energy Center, added 200 megawatts of capacity, from 72 turbines.129
Colorado has substantial solar resources, especially in the south near the New Mexico border.130 In 2023, Colorado ranked 11th among the states in utility-scale solar power-generating capacity with 1,294 megawatts installed. An additional 1,722 megawatts of solar power capacity scheduled to be operating by the end of 2024.131,132 Small-scale, customer-sited solar power generating systems (less than 1 megawatt in capacity) continue to grow and accounted for slightly more than two-fifths of the state's total solar generation in 2023.133,134 Colorado offers rebates and tax incentives to encourage homeowners and businesses to install solar panels, including community solar gardens, which are collections of solar panels shared by several residences.135,136,137 The Bureau of Land Management established the Solar Energy Program for six southwestern states. Four areas in Colorado were identified as Solar Energy Zones (SEZ) that are well suited for utility-scale solar development.138,139
Colorado has 69 mostly small hydroelectric generators, ranging in size from 500 kilowatts to 180 megawatts, with a total installed capacity of 1,183 megawatts.140 According to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the state has the potential to develop more than 30 new small hydropower projects using existing infrastructure.141 Colorado negotiated an agreement with the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to streamline the licensing process for small hydropower facilities.142 The Colorado Energy Office created the Energy Recovery Hydropower Initiative and a small hydropower grant and loan financing program to assist potential developers.143
Colorado's only utility-scale woody biomass plant came online in 2013 and burns waste gathered from surrounding forests.144 The state also provides tax breaks to promote biomass generation from anaerobic digestion, which burns the biogas produced from livestock manure or food waste to generate electricity.145,146,147,148
Colorado has a number of hot springs, and studies indicate that the state has significant geothermal energy potential.149 Colorado's Governor in 2024 approved $7.7 million in grant money to support private geothermal development.150 This effort follows two bills signed into law in 2022 to foster geothermal technologies.151,152 Some federal lands in the state have been leased for geothermal projects.153 The state's geothermal resources are mainly used for heating or cooling homes, businesses, recreational pools, and Colorado's state capitol building in Denver. Currently, there are no utility-scale projects that generate electricity with geothermal energy.154,155,156
In 2004, Colorado became the first state with a voter-approved renewable portfolio standard (RPS). The legislature amended the RPS several times, and the RPS now requires 30% of electricity sold by investor-owned utilities to be generated from renewable energy sources, with 3% from small-scale distributed generation. Separate requirements apply to municipal and cooperative electricity suppliers, depending on their size.157 Xcel Energy and Black Hills Energy, the state's two largest investor-owned utilities, met this 30% requirement.158,159 In January 2021, Colorado released its Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Roadmap detailing how the state plans to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 26% from 2005 levels by 2025, 50% by 2030, and 90% by 2050.160
Endnotes
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6 U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), State Energy Data System (SEDS): 1960-2021, Table P5B, Primary Energy Production Estimates, Renewable and Total Energy, in Trillion Btu, Ranked by State, 2021.
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43 U.S. EIA, Refinery Capacity Report (June 21, 2023), Table 1, Number and Capacity of Operable Petroleum Refineries by PADD District and State as of January 1, 2023.
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58 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Gross Withdrawals and Production, Marketed Production, Annual-Million Cubic Feet, 2018-23.
59 U.S. EIA, Colorado Natural Gas Marketed Production, 1967-2023.
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66 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Gross Withdrawals and Production, Colorado Natural Gas Gross Withdrawals from Coalbed Wells, Annual-Million Cubic Feet, 2015-22.
67 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Gross Withdrawals and Production, Gross Withdrawals from Coalbed Wells, Annual-Million Cubic Feet, 2015-22.
68 Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission, Data, Production by County, Monthly Coalbed Methane Produced by County, 2023.
69 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Consumption by End Use, Colorado, Annual, 2013-23.
70 U.S. Census Bureau, Census Reporter, Colorado, Table B25040, House Heating Fuel, 2022.
71 U.S. EIA, Colorado Natural Gas Deliveries to Electric Power Consumers, 1997-2023.
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75 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Consumption by End Use, Colorado, Annual-Million Cubic Feet, 2013-23.
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100 U.S. EIA, "Coal and natural gas plants will account for 98% of U.S. capacity retirements in 2023," Today in Energy (February 7, 2023).
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130 National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Geospatial Data Science, Solar Resource Maps and Data, U.S. Annual Solar GHI, updated February 22, 2018.
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