Plugged in to the energy needs of business.
The Colorado Public Utilities Commission has full regulatory authority over intrastate telecommunication services and investor-owned electric, gas, and water utilities, as well as partial regulatory control over municipal utility and electric associations.
Xcel Energy, the state's largest utility, is the primary provider of electricity and natural gas in the Metro Denver area. United Power, Intermountain Rural Electric Association, and Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association also provide services in the region.
Metro Denver's utility rates are equitable compared to other large metropolitan areas. The average retail price of electricity in Colorado's commercial sector was only 8.24 cents per kilowatt in 2009, compared to the national average of 10.21 cents per kilowatt hour. See Xcel Energy's Web site for commercial and industrial rates.
The Governor's Energy Office (GEO) released its 2010 Colorado Utilities Report about the state's 65 electric and gas utilities. The report provides an in-depth description of the state's sprawling utility marketplace, and includes individual profiles of all 65 utilities, complete with a breakdown of their generation fuel mix, incentives for energy efficiency and renewable energy, governance structure, customer split between residential, commercial and industrial, rate information and policy perspectives on climate change and other matters.
And, Colorado is an important contributor to the nation's energy supply. The state has an estimated one trillion barrels of oil locked in shale, almost four times the oil reserves in Saudi Arabia, and the largest deposit of its kind in the U.S. Colorado also produces the cleanest coal in the nation, and is the fourth-largest producer in the western U.S. Additionally, the state's natural gas production ranks in the top five and accounts for more than six percent of all of the natural gas produced in the nation.
Building a Clean Energy Future
- Creating Jobs - Colorado now has the fourth-highest concentration of clean-energy workers in country. Thanks to Ritter’s strong leadership, new businesses including Vestas, Siemens Energy, SMA Solar Technology, Abound Solar, Ascent Solar, and Solix Biofuels and growing and adding jobs in Colorado.
- Renewable Energy Standard - Colorado Governor Bill Ritter signed two laws, House Bill 07-1281 and House Bill 10-1001, which have tripled the state’s Renewable Energy Standard to 30 percent by 2020. These two laws, along with nearly 50 other clean energy bills signed by Gov. Ritter, have helped create new jobs, attract new companies, and spur innovation.
- Natural Gas - Colorado has some of the largest natural gas reserves in the world. Ritter initiated and signed legislation to create a local Colorado market for cleaner-burning natural gas while ensuring that energy development does not harm residents, water supplies, air quality, or wildlife.
- Climate Action Plan - Gov. Ritter issued Colorado’s first Climate Action Plan in 2007, calling for a 20 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and an 80 percent reduction by 2050.
- Wind, Sun, Geothermal & Biomass - Colorado is capitalizing on its abundant supplies of sustainable energy sources. The state has nearly quadrupled the amount of wind power on the grid.
- Xcel Energy provides various renewable energy programs for businesses interested in sustainable options and has the nation's largest voluntary "green power" program according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Additionally, the company made Boulder the first fully functioning 'SmartGrid City' in the world designed to provide environmental, financial, and operational benefits.
- With the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden – the Department of Energy's premier laboratory for renewable energy research and development and a lead laboratory for energy efficiency – there's plenty of "energy" in Metro Denver to fuel a sustainable energy future and build profitable companies.