Where Colorado Gets Its Electricity
Net generation by source · 12-month average, September 2025 – August 2026.
Generation mix
| Source | Share | Generation |
|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 35.6% | 19,597 GWh |
| Coal | 15.7% | 8,633 GWh |
| Nuclear | 0.0% | 0 GWh |
| Wind | 32.5% | 17,937 GWh |
| Solar | 12.4% | 6,845 GWh |
| Hydro | 3.6% | 1,974 GWh |
| Other | 0.3% | 139 GWh |
55.1 TWh generated over the 12 months to August 2026. Shares are of net generation within Colorado, which is not the same as what the state consumes — power crosses state lines.
Counting rooftop solar
EIA reports small-scale solar — mostly rooftop panels on homes and businesses — separately, and leaves it out of the state generation total that the mix above is a share of. Colorado generated 2,476 GWh that way. Counting it on both sides of the ratio takes solar from 12.4% to 16.2%.
How the mix has shifted since 2001
| Source | 2001 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 20.0% | 31.9% | +11.8 pts |
| Coal | 76.7% | 24.7% | −52.0 pts |
| Nuclear | 0.0% | 0.0% | — |
| Wind | 0.1% | 30.1% | +30.0 pts |
| Solar | 0.0% | 9.8% | +9.8 pts |
| Hydro | 3.2% | 3.3% | +0.1 pts |
| Other | -0.0% | 0.3% | +0.3 pts |
Compared with the U.S. and nearby states
Colorado's generation mix in context
Natural gas supplied 35.6% of Colorado's electricity generation in the 12 months since September 2025, making it the largest source. Wind was the second-largest at 32.5%, followed by solar at 12.4% using utility-scale capacity alone, or 16.2% when small-scale rooftop solar is included. Together, renewable sources accounted for 48.7% of generation, matching the carbon-free share since Colorado generates no nuclear power. This renewable share ranks 14th of the 50 states and DC, while the solar share ranks 7th.
The generation mix has undergone a dramatic shift since 2001. Coal dominated that year at 76.7% of generation but has fallen to 24.7% in 2025, a decline of 52 percentage points. Over the same span, wind grew from nearly nothing—0.1% in 2001—to 30.1% in 2025, while solar rose from zero to 9.8%. Natural gas increased from 20% to 31.9%. Renewables as a whole jumped from 3.4% in 2001 to 43.3% in 2025.
Compared with the national average, Colorado generates a much larger share from renewables, which stand 23.3 percentage points higher than the national renewable share of 25.4%. Its gas share is 5.3 points lower than the national 40.9%, though coal is slightly higher at 15.7% versus 15.4% nationally. Among the seven bordering states, three have higher renewable shares—New Mexico at 54.5%, Kansas at 50.7%, and Oklahoma at 49.5%—while four have lower shares, led by Wyoming at 34.4%.
Written from the EIA figures on this page, covering data through August 2026.
Frequently asked questions
›What percentage of Colorado's electricity comes from renewable energy?
›What percentage of Colorado's power comes from solar?
›Where does Colorado get most of its electricity?
›Does Colorado still burn coal for electricity?
›Is Colorado getting greener?
How this is measured
Figures are net generation reported to the U.S. Energy Information Administration for all sectors — utilities, independent power producers, and industrial and commercial plants that generate their own power. Shares are of the 12 months to August 2026, rather than a single month, because generation is strongly seasonal: solar peaks in summer and hydro with the spring melt, so one month says more about the weather than about the grid.
“Other” is the reported total minus the six named sources, so the shares add to exactly 100%. It holds geothermal, biomass, petroleum, other gases, and pumped storage — the last of which consumes more electricity than it returns, and so can be negative. Geothermal and biomass are renewable, which is why the renewable share above is slightly larger than wind, solar and hydro added together.
This is generation, not consumption. Electricity crosses state lines freely, so a state can generate more than it uses or rely on imports for a large part of its supply; neither shows up here.