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Public Service Company and the co-ops

Public Service Company of Colorado delivered 9.8 TWh to homes in 2024, more than half of the state’s residential electricity. Twenty-eight cooperatives such as CORE Electric and United Power hold 30% of all retail sales and nearly 780,000 accounts, and 28 municipal systems led by Colorado Springs another 16%; Black Hills Colorado Electric rounds out the investor-owned territory. The Colorado Public Utilities Commission oversees the investor-owned companies.

Coal to wind in ten years

Colorado’s generation mix changed more than most: coal supplied 60% of electricity in 2014 and 28% in 2024, while wind climbed to 30% and solar to 8%, nearly matching natural gas at 31%. Comanche, a coal plant, was still the biggest single generator.

Homes use relatively little electricity — about 677 kWh a month — because 76% heat with natural gas. That makes gas the winter bill: accounts used about 702 therms in 2024, and the 2025 price of $1.048 per therm was one of the lower ones nationally (41st of 51). Electric bills crest with summer cooling ($174.06 in July 2026) and bottom out in spring ($90.26 in April 2026). Rooftop solar is widespread, with almost 180,000 net-metered homes.

Propane in the mountains

Colorado’s propane households are heavy users: about 709 gallons a year per home using it in the 2020 survey, the seventh-highest figure among the states, priced at $2.302 a gallon when EIA’s 2025–26 heating-season survey closed. Energy assistance runs through the Energy Assistance Division of the Colorado Department of Human Services.