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Tag: Colorado economy

Colorado Responds To Federal Coal Extension Orders With New Emissions Requirements
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Responds To Federal Coal Extension Orders With New Emissions Requirements

By Scott Weiser | The Denver Gazette Gov. Jared Polis signed into law a bill in reaction to orders from the U.S. Department of Energy to keep older coal units online. The federal government’s instructions applied to Craig Unit 1 in Colorado, one of five coal units affected nationwide. The state legislation requires installation of modern pollution controls and cost reporting for any Colorado coal-fired power plants that continue operating beyond planned retirement dates. The measure, House Bill 26-1226, also directs the Public Utilities Commission to support resource planning consistent with state clean energy goals. The legislation signed June 4 targets qualifying coal units that emitted significant nitrogen oxides or sulfur dioxide in 2024. It...
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Lawmakers Put Reliability And Energy Costs Ahead Of New Climate Mandates In 2026
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The Sum & Substance, Approved, Commentary, State

Lawmakers Put Reliability And Energy Costs Ahead Of New Climate Mandates In 2026

By: Ed Sealover | Commentary, The Sum & Substance This legislative session was supposed to be a defining one for the utility and energy sectors — one in which legislators would debate and pass a long-discussed plan to move up the net-zero emissions deadline by 10 years and also remake the Public Utilities Commission. But the story of the 2026 session for energy advocates instead turned out to be all about what didn’t happen. No 2040 net-zero plan got introduced. No radical changes came through the extension of the PUC. And for the first time in over a decade, no existential threats to the oil and gas sector received debate in the 75th General Assembly. The topics that took center stage instead were reliability and affordability of energy sources. Legislators h...
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Colorado grew on a wave. The wave is gone.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado grew on a wave. The wave is gone.

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado crossed six million people in 2025, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Headlines called it a milestone. What they didn't report is how the state got there, and what's left now that the wave behind the growth has receded. The Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 population estimates, released across state, county and municipal data, include a breakdown most coverage did not examine. The growth wasn’t coming from where it used to From 2015 through 2019, Census Bureau historical data shows Colorado averaged roughly 50,000 net migrants a year. Most were Americans who had sized up their options and chose this state. Then it changed. In 2020, Colorado received a net 239 international migrants. By 2024 that figure...
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Five candidates agreed Colorado has problems. Voters must decide who owns them
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Five candidates agreed Colorado has problems. Voters must decide who owns them

By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board Colorado has become so expensive that starter homes are starting to sound less like milestones and more like bucket-list items. Businesses are beginning to treat Colorado the way some retirees treat winter: nice place to visit, not entirely sure about staying. The surprising part isn't that Republicans said so. It's that Democrats did too. During this week's Republican and Democrat gubernatorial debates, candidates from both parties described a Colorado that is becoming harder to afford, harder to build in and harder to keep businesses in. Nobody on either stage stood up to argue that things are going great. A recent RMV report on Common Sense Institute data found Colorado lost a net 3,934 business establishments in 2024, ran...
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Northern Colorado Leaders Warn Power Shortage Could Slow Growth
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CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

Northern Colorado Leaders Warn Power Shortage Could Slow Growth

By: Dillon Thomas | CBS Colorado Rapid growth across parts of Northern Colorado is colliding with a growing challenge — being able to access enough electricity to support new homes and businesses. Local leaders in Greeley say demand for power has increased significantly in recent decades. This is as technology becomes more integrated into everyday life, and it creates pressure on an electric grid that is struggling to keep pace with population growth and development. "We are growing pretty rapidly," said Don Threewitt, interim community and economic developer for the city of Greeley. Threewitt said the state's electric demand has shifted dramatically in the last decade, as residents rely more heavily on technology. From smartphones and electric vehicles to incre...
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Colorado Growth Slows as Population Gains Concentrate in Fewer Counties
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Growth Slows as Population Gains Concentrate in Fewer Counties

By Mark Samuelson | The Denver Gazette Population growth in Colorado, which had helped drive the region’s burgeoning economy over recent years, has slowed markedly. In metro Denver, the growth areas are concentrated in only a handful of counties, according to a new report. From 2024 to 2025 the state added just 33,151 residents, marking one of the lowest annual growth cycles it had posted over the past decade, according to a study issued last week by the Greenwood Village-based Common Sense Institute. That recent total shows Colorado’s annual population growth having slipped by some 60% from 2015, a summary of the study concluded. During the span of 2015 to 2016, Colorado saw a population increase of 83,036, the study said. Meanwhile, although recent data show t...
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Colorado Mountain Towns Feel Economic Pain After Historic Dry Winter
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Mountain Towns Feel Economic Pain After Historic Dry Winter

By Bernadette Berdychowski | Colorado Politics Rocky, snow‑starved slopes. Rivers rising too soon. Resorts shutting down in April. Drought rules spreading statewide. These aren’t just signs of a bad winter — they’re red flags. And now another one is flashing across the Rockies: falling sales‑tax revenues that threaten the budgets and stability of mountain towns already stretched thin. Sales‑tax revenues — a key measure of local spending and a major source of city funding — dropped across many Colorado mountain towns in the first months of the year, largely because the unusually dry winter kept visitors away. In December, some towns saw only slight declines or even small gains. In Breckenridge, businesses said tourists who had already booked their trips an...
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Polis Pushes Back As Employers Cite Rising Challenges In Colorado Economy
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Polis Pushes Back As Employers Cite Rising Challenges In Colorado Economy

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics How does Colorado get back to the climate in the early 2000s, when there was collaboration between state government, companies and colleges and universities? That was the question posed to Gov. Jared Polis and a panel convened Tuesday by the Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce as part of its annual state of the state luncheon that follows the end of the legislative session. Mowa Haile, the CEO of Sky Blue Builders who chairs the chamber board, noted that, in the last year, the state has gained more than $2 billion in capital investment, along with 1,000 jobs. Colorado is still an amazing state, he said. “But we see cracks,” Haile said. Several issues today make Colorado less competitive for businesses, he said,...
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Colorado Drivers Feel Economic Squeeze As Gas Nears $4.50 Per Gallon
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Colorado Drivers Feel Economic Squeeze As Gas Nears $4.50 Per Gallon

By Tamara Chuang | The Colorado Sun It’s even more painful for truckers and ride-sharing drivers. Many are contractors who are paying out of pocket to fuel up. Before Feb. 28, Kareem Sawadogo paid about $40 to fill up his tank. Now, it’s over $65, said Sawadogo, a driver for both Lyft and Uber. And if he’s driving full time, which is 40 to 60 hours a week, he must fill up daily. Combine the higher cost of gas with the rising prices of auto insurance and car maintenance, and it seems cheaper to just park his car.  “If you do the math, 30 times seven, that extra is a lot of money,” said Sawadogo, who’s taken on another job — organizing for the Colorado Independent Drivers United, which estimates there are 41,000 ridesharing drivers in the state. “I cannot a...
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Big business taxes, small family credits, and a permanent tax on overtime
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Big business taxes, small family credits, and a permanent tax on overtime

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Rep. Yara Zokaie stood before the House Finance Committee on March 9 and made the case for HB26-1221, a bill targeting executive pay deductions and corporate loss carry-forwards. "Our families are struggling to juggle their rent, groceries, and utilities," she said. The legislature had a choice. It could "choose to protect tax breaks for millionaire CEO salaries" or "allow for a break for our hard-working Coloradan families." Zokaie also co-signed HB26-1289. The reengrossed text of that bill, passed by the House on May 4, contains a provision requiring Colorado workers to add their federally exempt overtime pay back into state taxable income. Congress created a federal income tax deduction on overtime pay — up to $12,500 ...
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