Colorado

House Bill 26-1246 consumer-regulated electric utilities (did not pass)

Legislation introduced (any outcome)

Did not pass This measure did not pass.

Scope

Colorado House Bill 26-1246 would have defined a "consumer-regulated electric utility" as an electric generation and supply system built for the sole purpose of serving new industrial, commercial, data center, or other nonresidential loads not previously served by a retail electric provider, and would have stated that such a utility is not a public utility and is not regulated by the Public Utilities Commission unless it elects to interconnect with the grid in a regulated public utility's service territory. The House Energy & Environment Committee postponed it indefinitely on 30 April 2026, and it did not become law.

Geographic scope
Colorado
Jurisdiction
State
Authority type
Legislature
Issuing authority
Colorado General Assembly

Dates

Adopted
No adoption day is recorded
Effective
Never took effect (did not pass)
Scheduled expiration
None scheduled
Ended
30 April 2026
Completion condition
None stated
Source document
The source page states no document date
Last checked
23 September 2026 (earlier than tracker date 5 October 2026; not an automatic status change)

Summary

Colorado House Bill 26-1246 proposed letting privately built generation and supply systems serve new industrial, commercial, data center or other nonresidential loads outside Public Utilities Commission regulation unless they interconnect with a regulated utility's grid, and allowed them to build in public rights-of-way subject to permits. The official bill page shows the House Energy & Environment Committee rejected sending it to the full House (5-8) and postponed it indefinitely on 30 April 2026 by an 8-5 vote; its status is Lost. It did not become law.

What this does not establish

  • The bill is not specific to data centers: data center loads are one of several new nonresidential loads it names.
  • The quotes come from the official bill summary, which describes the bill as introduced; committee amendments adopted on 30 April 2026 are not reflected, and the bill text was not opened because the site's robots.txt disallows automated bill-text downloads.
  • It created no new utility category and changed no regulation.

Unresolved questions

None recorded.

Relationships

Supersession means a later instrument replaces the earlier legal effect. Repeal links identify the repeal instrument and the measure it ends. A later implementation or related letter is not treated as a replacement unless the record says so.

  • No related action is recorded.

Sources

Primary source

https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb26-1246

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