- Colorado is the fifth-largest crude oil-producing state, with 90% of production coming from Weld County.†The Wattenberg field, much of which is in Weld County, is the fourth-largest U.S. oil field based on proved oil reserves and ninth-largest gas field based on proved natural gas reserves. The Piceance Basin in the western mountain region is the other primary crude oil-producing area in Colorado
- Colorado was the seventh-largest natural gas-producing state in 2020. Colorado’s marketed natural gas output has more than doubled since 2000. Colorado has, entirely or partially, 11 of the nation’s 100 largest natural gas fields.
- Since 2010, Colorado’s renewable electricity net generation has more than tripled, led by increased wind and solar, and accounted for 30% of the state’s total generation in 2020. Colorado uses less electricity per capita than three-fourths of the states. From 2010 to 2020, coal generation decreased 44%, natural gas generation increased by 47%, and renewable energy generation more than tripled. The largest increase in renewable electricity generation came from wind power, followed by utility-scale solar power.
- In 2004, Colorado became the first state with a voter-approved renewable portfolio standard (RPS). The Legislature increased the requirements several times, and the RPS now requires 30% of electricity sold by investor-owned utilities to come from renewable energy sources by 2020. In 2019, Colorado’s governor proposed a plan for 100% of the state’s electricity generation to come from renewable resources by 2040.
- In 2020, wind power accounted for 78% of Colorado’s renewable electricity generation, followed by solar (utility-scale and small scale) at 14%, hydroelectric power at 12%, and biomass at 1%. Small-scale solar, which includes rooftop solar panels on houses, continues to grow and accounted for just over one-third of the state’s total solar generation in 2020. Since 2010, Colorado’s use of wind power has more than tripled. In 2020, three new wind power projects added 958 megawatts of capacity bringing Colorado’s total wind generating capacity to 4,716 megawatts. Colorado ranks seventh nationwide in installed wind power capacity.https://www.eia.gov/state/print.php?sid=CO
