Colorado State Capitol Building in Denver
October 2025 Updates
Colorado Energy Office and the Air Pollution Control Division Seek to Weaken Clean Heat Targets
One year after approving Colorado’s first “clean heat plan” to reduce climate pollution caused by gas systems, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission is weighing the impact of federal clean energy incentive rollbacks on the state’s clean heat goals. In early August, Gov. Jared Polis’s administration proposed a 41% greenhouse gas emissions reduction target for 2035, but weeks later, in response to pressure from the state’s utilities, the Colorado Energy Office and the Air Pollution Control Division lowered this target to 31% due to pressure from utilities.
Colorado Won’t Enforce Gas Stoves Labelling Pending Lawsuit
After Colorado became the first state to mandate warning labels on gas stoves, manufacturers filed a lawsuit to challenge the new rules. Under the new law, gas-stove warning labels need to bear the phrase, “Understand the air quality implications of having an indoor gas stove.” The stickers would have a URL link or QR code that directs curious consumers to a state webpage that provides “credible, evidence-based information on the health impacts of gas-fueled stoves.” Manufacturers asked the federal district court in Colorado to freeze the law’s enforcement. The state’s attorney general agreed not to enforce the rules until the court reaches a decision.
August 2025 Updates
Xcel Energy’s TENs Pilots Selection Settlement Agreement Approved
The Colorado Public Utilities Commission approved the settlement agreement between Xcel Energy and most of the parties in the Thermal Energy Networks (TENs) pilot project application proceeding. This settlement resulted in the selection of South Frisco and Ruby Hill as locations for TENs pilot projects (24A-0369G). The Colorado Energy Office opposed parts of the agreement, hoping to require Xcel Energy to include additional communities in case either or both of the two selected TEN pilots fail to move forward. The PUC largely rejected the Colorado Energy Office’s arguments.
Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) Recommends Statewide HVAC Contractor Licensing
DRCOG has been workshopping the idea of statewide licensing for HVAC contractors for more than a year, and the Board recently approved its staff’s recommendation that DRCOG recommend to the Department of Regulatory Agencies that contractor licensing take place at the state level. Colorado is one of only 17 states that licenses contractors at the local level, making it a nightmare for contractors who have to juggle multiple licenses across their service areas.
July 2025 Updates
A Win for Community-Initiated Neighborhood Scale Decarbonization
Passed in 2024, HB24-1370 requires the Colorado Energy Office to solicit interest from local governments in becoming “gas planning pilot communities” that will explore neighborhood-scale decarbonization alternatives. Several months ago, the Colorado Energy Office and Xcel Energy submitted a joint proposal (25D-0183G) to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to move forward with only three gas planning pilot communities. BDC joined a diverse opposition effort to this proposal, encouraging the PUC to require the Colorado Energy Office and Xcel Energy to move forward with five—and we won! The PUC decided that five communities (Denver, Boulder, Breckenridge, Winter Park, and Golden) will move forward to the program’s next stage of design and exploration.
June 2025 Updates
On-Bill Repayment Bill Fails
The bill (HB25-1268) to create an on-bill repayment program failed in the waning hours of the session after the State Treasurer opposed using the unclaimed property trust fund to provide the loans to utilities. The bill would have required the Colorado Energy Office to establish a state utility on-bill repayment program to help finance energy efficiency measures, electrification measures, and energy upgrades through loans that customers repay through their monthly bill. Despite this loss, there appears to be strong momentum for passage of the bill at the legislature’s next session.
Governor Polis Vetoes the Worker Protection Act
Gov. Jared Polis vetoed the bill passed by the state legislature, which would have rewritten the Colorado Labor Peace Act. SB 25-005 was a priority for the Colorado labor movement, and the Governor’s veto marks a sharp departure from the views Polis presented when he sought labor’s endorsement in 2018.
April 2025 Updates
BDC Awarded Denver Regional Council of Governments’ Contractor Navigation Hub
The demand for qualified contractors to install cold-climate heat pump technology is rising in Colorado, as increased incentives are encouraging end-users to invest in heat pump technology. Consequently, the state’s HVAC industry has experienced an influx of services, resources, incentives, and programs dedicated to guiding contractors and consumers through the growing landscape of resources. This expansion has also led to an overload of administrative requirements and disjointed resources, creating barriers to efficient adoption.
To address these challenges, BDC is partnering with the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) to create an online Contractor Navigation Hub. This Contractor Hub aims to be a streamlined, simple, “One-Stop-Shop” resource for HVAC and home energy-efficiency contractors who want to offer customers cold climate heat pump technology installation services.
On-Bill Repayment Bill Advanced to the Colorado House of Representatives’ Finance Committee
The bill to create an on-bill repayment program made progress when the Colorado House of Representatives’ Energy & Environment Committee referred the amended bill (HB 25-1268) to the House Finance Committee.
March 2025 Updates
Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) Establishes Technical Committee for its New Building Decarbonization Program
DRCOG, a planning organization made up of 58 Denver region county, city, and town governments, has created a Technical Committee for its new building decarbonization program. Holly Harris, BDC’s Senior Regional Manager, Intermountain West, has been invited to join the committee. The committee will advise and assist DRCOG as it develops policies for the program, which is funded by a $199.7 million EPA climate Pollution Reduction Grant.
Colorado Communities Seek to Participate in the Colorado Energy Office and Xcel Energy’s Neighborhood-Scale Decarbonization Program
Fort Collins, Winter Park, Breckenridge, Golden, the City of Boulder, and Denver were among the numerous Colorado communities that applied to work with the Colorado Energy Office and Xcel Energy to advance neighborhood-scale building decarbonization projects. The Colorado Energy Office and Xcel Energy will select up to five communities to advance to the next step of the program.
Colorado Legislators Introduce On-Bill Repayment Legislation for Electrification, Energy Efficiency, and Other Energy Upgrades
Colorado State Representatives Junie Joseph and Meg Froelich and Colorado State Senators Kyle Mullica and Faith Winter have introduced HB 25-1268, a bill that will establish a $100 million state utility on-bill repayment program to help Coloradans finance residential and commercial energy efficiency electrification and other energy upgrades through loans that these customers repay through their monthly utility bill payments.
The bill would also require Xcel Energy to support this program by establishing new or expanding existing on-bill repayment programs and deliver these plans to the state’s public utilities commission for review. Governor Polis and the Colorado Energy Office support the bill.
February 2025 Updates
Gas-Only Utility Required to Support Electrification
The Colorado Public Utilities Commission concluded deliberations on Black Hills Colorado Gas’ first Clean Heat Plan, marking one of the first times in the nation in which a gas-only utility will be required to support electrification for all of its customers, such as replacing gas furnaces and water heaters with efficient electric heat pumps.
Colorado Labor Advancing Decarbonization
A group of labor unions representing hundreds of thousands of workers formed Climate Jobs Colorado, a union-led organization dedicated to creating an environmentally sustainable and resilient economy powered by strong union jobs. Working with researchers from the Climate Jobs Institute at Cornell University’s ILR School, the coalition released “Colorado’s Clean Energy Jobs Path,” outlining 26 key recommendations to position the state as a national leader in decarbonization.
Communities Initiating Neighborhood Scale Decarbonization Pilots
Colorado Senate Bill 24-1370, Reduce Cost of Use of Natural Gas, establishes a process for local governments in Xcel Energy’s gas service territory to explore neighborhood-scale decarbonization projects. In late January, the Colorado Energy Office closed the request for information to identify up to five eligible communities to participate as gas planning pilot communities.
Xcel Energy’s Thermal Energy Networks (TENs) Pilot Projects Hearing
The Public Utility Commission held a public hearing on Xcel’s TEN pilots application (the hearing starts at 28:00 minutes into the video). BDC submitted public comments, offering recommendations to advance equitable and effective TEN pilot projects.
Xcel Energy Exploring Neighborhood Scale Decarbonization
Xcel filed an NSD application (Mountain Energy Project), focusing on how to meet the needs of existing and new customers in a strip of communities from Leadville to Grand Lake dependent on gas without spending money on assets that will be stranded. Xcel evaluated all-electric, non-pipeline-only alternatives and hybrids with LNG and other gas options.