Across Colorado, the organizations and industries that develop, sell, and manage homes and commercial buildings want pragmatic energy policies and a strong future. However, recent moves to speed up electrification mandates under the state’s Clean Heat Plan may miss an important reality: energy policy and housing affordability are connected.
As decision-makers move quickly to limit access to natural gas, it is important to realize the costs do not vanish. Instead, the burden falls on Colorado’s homeowners, renters, and building owners and managers in a time where the state continues to grapple with housing and affordability challenges. With a statewide median household income of $95,470, as reported in Census data for Colorado, many households have little room to absorb higher housing and energy costs.
The most immediate effect is on affordability. As costs continue to rise across Colorado, electrification mandates add further strain. A 2021 study from Home Innovation Research Labs found that electrifying a home in Denver can cost between $11,430 and $15,100. Those costs will not disappear; they are passed on through higher home prices and rent costs. Analysis from the Common Sense Institute shows that new energy requirements can add anywhere from $6,450 to more than $22,000 per new home, forcing homeownership further out of reach for many families.
Utility bills are another real-world measure of the impact on residential and commercial buildings across Coloradans. Buildings relying on electric heating, such as heat pumps, face higher energy costs than buildings using high-efficiency natural gas systems, sometimes by several hundred dollars per year. Those added expenses influence business investment decisions, and for families they shape everyday budgets, affecting what can be spent on basics like groceries, childcare, and transportation. Building and apartment owners experience these cost burdens as well: higher operating costs ultimately mean higher rents for tenants. Preserving energy choice is therefore more than a design preference; it plays a direct role in stability and access.
Public sentiment echoes these concerns. The majority of Coloradans are against policies that would restrict their ability to select the energy source they use in their homes or businesses, according to polling from Coloradans for Energy Access. Reliability and affordability consistently rank among the primary reasons consumers prefer natural gas, which is shaped by everyday experience in a state where dependable energy is a necessity throughout the year.
Given those concerns, policymakers must carefully weigh the need for reliable energy, particularly in Colorado’s climate. Coloradans for Energy Access shows reliability is the No. 1 reason Coloradans prefer natural gas in their homes and businesses. That preference is reinforced by both cost and performance. According to the American Gas Association, natural gas delivers the same amount of energy at roughly 3.5 times lower cost than electricity, and only 1 in 650 customers can expect to experience a planned or unplanned natural gas outage in a given year. During cold snaps, when energy demand surges, that level of reliability is critical for our homes and businesses to prosper.
The effects reach far beyond individual households and carry significant economic development consequences. Electrification mandates would also impact the businesses Coloradans run and rely on every day. More than 157,000 businesses across Colorado depend on natural gas to power operations ranging from construction and manufacturing to hospitals, ski resorts, restaurants, and breweries, according to the American Gas Association. Nationally, businesses have saved more than half a trillion dollars over the past decade by using natural gas, savings that support jobs, wages, and local investment. Consumer Energy Alliance highlights that Colorado quite literally runs on natural gas, even if most of that reliance occurs behind the scenes. As households and businesses experience increased costs, policymakers should consider how Colorado’s economy could change if clean heat mandates continue to accelerate.
Colorado has opportunities to lower emissions while acknowledging the important role natural gas plays in housing and economic development for our state. Policies that move toward eliminating natural gas could erode affordability, reliability, and consumer choice for renters, homeowners, and building owners and managers, and risk impacting Coloradans who are battling affordability.
The state’s energy access policies should reflect how people live, work, and build communities. An approach that balances flexibility, supports dual-fuel solutions, and respects consumer choice will strengthen Colorado’s families, businesses, and long-term economic health.