State electricity profile · EIA monthly through May 2026
Colorado Electricity
As of May 2026, residential electricity in Colorado costs 16.16¢ per kWh (+3.7% vs May 2025). EIA publishes these figures monthly and this page follows them. Colorado's 2025 annual residential electricity rate is 15.85¢/kWh, 8.4% below the US average. Power costs less here than the US average, with renewables at 45% of generation and the balance, detailed below, coming from conventional fuels.
- 16.16¢
- May 2026 rate
- +3.7%
- year over year
- 15.85¢/kWh
- Residential rate
- -8.4%
- vs US average
- 45%
- Renewable
- 2.5M
- Customers
Verify with EIA → · Methodology
15.85¢/kWh residential, 12.47¢/kWh commercial
In the U.S. Energy Information Administration's 2025 annual-frequency retail-sales series, Colorado's residential average revenue per kWh is 15.85¢/kWh, with a commercial average of 12.47¢/kWh and an industrial average of 9.07¢/kWh; a separate EIA generation series for 2025 reports 45% of the state's generation from renewables.
- 8.4% below the US average vs national residential average
- 45% renewable generation
The verdict · 2025
Colorado's residential electricity runs 15.85¢/kWh - 8.4% below the 17.30¢/kWh national average, cheaper than 42% of other states, with 45% of its power from renewables.
This is EIA state average revenue per kWh across 2.5M reported residential customers, a benchmark for comparing states, not the tariff on any single bill. Source: EIA retail-sales API, annual frequency.
Annual rate change
What changed in the 2025 annual EIA period
- Colorado's commercial average rose from 11.71¢/kWh to 12.47¢/kWh between the 2024 and 2025 annual-frequency EIA retail-sales periods, a change of +6.5%.
- Colorado's residential average rose from 14.92¢/kWh to 15.85¢/kWh between the 2024 and 2025 annual-frequency EIA retail-sales periods, a change of +6.2%.
- Colorado's industrial average rose from 8.62¢/kWh to 9.07¢/kWh between the 2024 and 2025 annual-frequency EIA retail-sales periods, a change of +5.2%.
Energy Generation Mix (2025)
How Colorado generates its electricity, from the EIA generation series for 2025 (separate from the 2025 retail-sales price figures above). Renewable sources account for 45.5% of generation.
- Natural Gas30.7%
- Windrenewable29.0%
- Coal23.8%
- Solarrenewable13.2%
- Hydrorenewable3.1%
- Pumped Storage0.1%
- Biomassrenewable0.1%
Who generates Colorado's electricity
Colorado has 482 operable generating units on EIA's inventory totalling 20,934 MW of net summer capacity. The largest single plant is Craig (CO) , a conventional steam coal station operated by Tri-State G & T Assn, Inc , rated 1,285 MW.
Balancing authorities keep supply and demand matched on the grid; the largest here by capacity are Public Service Company of Colorado, Western Area Power Administration - Rocky Mountain Region and Southwest Power Pool.
Showing the 16 largest of 322 operable plants in Colorado by net summer capacity.
| Plant | Operator | Technology | County | MW |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Craig (CO) | Tri-State G & T Assn, Inc | Conventional Steam Coal | – | 1,285 |
| Comanche (CO) | Public Service Co of Colorado | Conventional Steam Coal | – | 1,085 |
| Fort St Vrain | Public Service Co of Colorado | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | – | 1,022 |
| Cherokee | Public Service Co of Colorado | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | – | 886 |
| Rawhide | Platte River Power Authority | Conventional Steam Coal | – | 668 |
| Rocky Mountain Energy Center | Public Service Co of Colorado | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | – | 592 |
| Rush Creek Wind | Public Service Co of Colorado | Onshore Wind Turbine | – | 582 |
| Rocky Mountain Solar | Public Service Co of Colorado | Solar Photovoltaic | – | 525 |
| Pawnee | Public Service Co of Colorado | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | – | 505 |
| Cheyenne Ridge Wind Farm | Public Service Co of Colorado | Onshore Wind Turbine | – | 477 |
| Front Range Power Plant | City of Colorado Springs - (CO) | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | – | 460 |
| Neptune Energy Center Hybrid | Neptune Energy Center, LLC | Solar Photovoltaic | – | 450 |
| Hayden | Public Service Co of Colorado | Conventional Steam Coal | – | 441 |
| Pueblo Airport Generating Station | Black Hills Service Company LLC | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | – | 408 |
| Thunder Wolf Energy Center Hybrid | Thunder Wolf Energy Center, LLC | Solar Photovoltaic | – | 348 |
| Cabin Creek | Public Service Co of Colorado | Hydroelectric Pumped Storage | – | 340 |
| Operating company | Plants | Net summer MW |
|---|---|---|
| Public Service Co of Colorado | 23 | 7,243 |
| Tri-State G & T Assn, Inc | 6 | 2,080 |
| City of Colorado Springs - (CO) | 6 | 900 |
| U S Bureau of Reclamation | 14 | 778 |
| Platte River Power Authority | 1 | 668 |
| Leeward Asset Management, LLC | 3 | 617 |
| Limon | 3 | 601 |
| Neptune Energy Center, LLC | 1 | 450 |
| Lightsource Renewable Energy Asset Management, LLC | 2 | 440 |
| Black Hills Service Company LLC | 1 | 408 |
Operable units only, from EIA's generator inventory as reported for 2026-05. Capacity is net summer rating, which is what a unit can reliably deliver in peak conditions rather than its nameplate figure. Ownership and operatorship can differ; the company shown is the one EIA records as operating the unit.
What Colorado's Electricity Data Tells Us
Residential customers in Colorado pay 15.85¢/kWh in 2025, across 2.5M metered households, placing the state 8.4% below the national residential average of 17.30¢/kWh. Commercial rates sit at 12.47¢/kWh while industrial buyers pay 9.07¢/kWh. These sector averages describe recorded revenue per kWh; this dataset alone does not establish why they differ. Annual residential sales total 20.4M MWh on roughly $3.2B in utility revenue. Sales and revenue are reported retail-series measures and should not be treated as a local load forecast.
Colorado prices its sectors in step: 22 of 51 residential against 19 industrial. A state this consistent is the exception rather than the rule, and it means the residential figure above is a fair proxy for how the whole grid is priced. Colorado's generation is unusually spread across fuels: the leading source, natural gas, accounts for only 30.7%, and wind at 29.0% is barely behind it. It is the leading fuel in 26 states. Renewable fuels (solar, wind, hydro, geothermal and biomass) account for 45.5% of Colorado's electricity output. These shares describe in-state generation, not a utility-specific customer bill.
Looking back across EIA records, residential prices in Colorado moved from 12.07¢/kWh in 2016 to 15.85¢/kWh in 2025, a 31.3% shift over that window. States charging a similar rate include Minnesota, Alabama, Texas, a useful peer set for a sanity check. Because gas sets the price of the marginal megawatt-hour on a grid built around it, Colorado's residential rate tracks the fuel market with a lag: a gas-price winter shows up on bills months later, and a cheap gas year works its way through the same way. A state average sitting modestly under the national one is the easiest kind to misread, because the spread between utilities inside Colorado can be wider than the gap to the national figure it is being compared against.
-8.4%
Cheaper vs the US residential average
42%
of states have higher rates — Mid-range cost
45%
Significant renewable — above the 25% US mix
2.5M
residential customers served
Residential Price History
Colorado residential average revenue per kWh moved from 12.07¢/kWh in 2016 to 15.85¢/kWh in 2025 (31.3% over the window).
- Colorado residential avg
- 15.85¢/kWh 31.3% since 2016
- 2016 → 2025
- Colorado residential: 2016, 12.1¢
- Colorado residential: 2017, 12.2¢
- Colorado residential: 2018, 12.2¢
- Colorado residential: 2019, 12.2¢
- Colorado residential: 2020, 12.4¢
- Colorado residential: 2021, 13.1¢
- Colorado residential: 2022, 14.2¢
- Colorado residential: 2023, 14.3¢
- Colorado residential: 2024, 14.9¢
- Colorado residential: 2025, 15.9¢
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, retail-sales API · annual frequency. Colorado full trend →
Colorado Average Price by Sector and Year (¢/kWh)
The chart above tracks households only. In 2025, Colorado households paid 15.85¢/kWh while businesses paid 12.47¢/kWh, a 27.1% residential premium, a wider household-versus-business gap than most states. Every year EIA has published is below, so a single year can be read across all three sectors rather than assembled from three separate EIA queries.
| Year | Residential | Commercial | Industrial |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 15.85¢/kWh | 12.47¢/kWh | 9.07¢/kWh |
| 2024 | 14.92¢/kWh | 11.71¢/kWh | 8.62¢/kWh |
| 2023 | 14.30¢/kWh | 11.64¢/kWh | 8.50¢/kWh |
| 2022 | 14.19¢/kWh | 11.58¢/kWh | 8.63¢/kWh |
| 2021 | 13.07¢/kWh | 10.84¢/kWh | 8.01¢/kWh |
| 2020 | 12.36¢/kWh | 10.29¢/kWh | 7.48¢/kWh |
| 2019 | 12.18¢/kWh | 10.43¢/kWh | 7.40¢/kWh |
| 2018 | 12.15¢/kWh | 10.02¢/kWh | 7.47¢/kWh |
| 2017 | 12.17¢/kWh | 9.89¢/kWh | 7.50¢/kWh |
| 2016 | 12.07¢/kWh | 9.60¢/kWh | 7.35¢/kWh |
Average revenue per kilowatt-hour, U.S. Energy Information Administration annual-frequency retail-sales series. Revenue per kWh is what customers in each sector actually paid on average, not an advertised tariff rate. Years with no EIA figure for a sector show —.
Where Colorado's residential rate sits nationally
2025 average revenue per kWh across every reporting state
15.85¢/kWh 42nd affordability percentile More affordable than 42% of 50 other states
all reporting states, equal-width bands
Each bar spans 5¢/kWh. Taller bars contain more states; the dashed marker locates this state. Hover, focus or tap a bar for its exact count and share.
Source U.S. Energy Information Administration, retail-sales API · 2025 annual frequency
How Colorado compares
Average revenue per kWh, EIA retail-sales API. Pick a benchmark above to compare Colorado against the US average or a peer state.
Market Overview
Residential Revenue
$3.2B
Commercial Revenue
$2.6B
Residential Sales
20.4M MWh
Residential Customers
2.5M
Using Colorado's numbers
Renewables already carry a large share of generation here, so the marginal question in Colorado has shifted from building supply to firming it. Storage and interconnection are what the next rate moves turn on.
- Colorado sits 8.4% below the national average, see exactly where it lands among all 50 states. See the rankings
- Check the multi-year trend before you judge the rate, a low price rising fast can cost more over a decade than a steady one. Colorado price trend
- Compare Colorado side by side with the US average and peer states using the tool above, then estimate your own bill from your monthly kWh. Cost calculator
Figures are EIA state averages by sector, computed as revenue divided by sales, so delivery and taxes are inside them but not broken out. Your actual rate depends on your utility, plan, and usage, see our disclaimer.
States with Similar Electricity Prices
Other states led by natural gas
These grids also report natural gas as their largest generation share in the latest EIA mix — a different peer set from the price neighbors above.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does electricity cost in Colorado? ▼
Where does Colorado's residential electricity rate rank nationally? ▼
How much of Colorado's electricity is renewable? ▼
Are electricity prices going up in Colorado? ▼
What are commercial and industrial electricity rates in Colorado? ▼
Which energy sources generate the most electricity in Colorado? ▼
Where does RateWatt's Colorado electricity data come from? ▼
Read with Colorado: renewable vs fossil fuel costs
Where Colorado's figures come from
Every price and generation figure on this page is drawn from the EIA series below, and from nothing else.
Utilities serving Colorado
The 41 utilities that reported bundled residential service in Colorado to EIA Form 861 (2024), largest first. Entity prices below are Form 861 averages for that release, not the same survey as the 2025 retail-sales statewide average above, and not a household tariff. What an individual household pays depends on which of these serves its address.
| Utility | Ownership | Customers | Avg ¢/kWh |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public Service Co of Colorado | Investor Owned | 1.4M | 15.05¢ |
| City of Colorado Springs - (CO) | Municipal | 216.8K | 14.45¢ |
| CORE Electric Cooperative | Cooperative | 165.1K | 15.04¢ |
| United Power, Inc | Cooperative | 101.5K | 15.75¢ |
| Black Hills Colorado Electric, LLC | Investor Owned | 89.3K | 17.05¢ |
| City of Fort Collins - (CO) | Municipal | 70.8K | 13.21¢ |
| Mountain View Elec Assn, Inc | Cooperative | 59.8K | 15.52¢ |
| Holy Cross Electric Assn, Inc | Cooperative | 50.0K | 12.04¢ |
| Poudre Valley REA, Inc | Cooperative | 49.6K | 12.21¢ |
| City of Longmont | Municipal | 40.9K | 12.30¢ |
| La Plata Electric Assn, Inc | Cooperative | 39.9K | 16.71¢ |
| City of Loveland - (CO) | Municipal | 37.0K | 14.40¢ |
| Delta Montrose Electric Assn | Cooperative | 32.6K | 14.97¢ |
| San Isabel Electric Assn, Inc | Cooperative | 23.3K | 17.78¢ |
| Yampa Valley Electric Assn Inc | Cooperative | 23.3K | 16.76¢ |
Showing the 15 largest of 41 reporting utilities. The 4 serving 100.0K+ residential customers link to a full profile. Presence in EIA Form 861 is not evidence that a utility is available at a given address or that a customer may choose it.
Related
Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.
Every figure on RateWatt is rendered directly from official U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, no number is typed in by an editor. Statewide prices use the EIA retail-sales annual series (2025). Generation mix uses a separate EIA generation series (2025). Utility rows use Form EIA-861 (2024) and are not averaged into the statewide retail-sales figure. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2025.