Vision
A prosperous, clean energy future for Colorado.
Mission
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions and consumer energy costs by advancing clean energy, energy efficiency and zero emission vehicles to benefit all Coloradans.
Summary
By capitalizing on Colorado’s diverse energy resources, innovative technology, and long-standing energy efficiency programs, the Colorado Energy Office (CEO) provides a valuable role by delivering cost effective energy services and advancing innovative energy solutions for all Coloradans.
The Colorado Energy Office is structured into the following program areas and functions:
The Transportation team works to reduce transportation-related emissions by accelerating the use of market-ready and emerging zero emission vehicles that can meet the needs of today’s fleets and the public, but for which barriers exist. CEO works to increase the number of electric vehicles and other emerging zero emission transportation technologies through policy and planning, infrastructure grant funding, and education and outreach to consumers, with a particular focus on low income and disproportionately impacted communities.
The Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) team provides direct energy retrofit services, including energy efficiency, insulation, and renewable energy installation to households meeting an annual income requirement or 200% or less of the federal poverty level through contracts with statewide service providers. Nearly 30% of Colorado households experience energy burden, spending more than 4% of their household income on utility bills annually. This percentage increases dramatically for low-income households. To address this significant problem, CEO establishes performance standards, conducts technical and administrative training, and performs compliance reviews of the service providers. CEO is also focused particularly on workforce development to ensure it can meet its weatherization goals.
The Building Decarbonization team works to reduce emissions from building energy use through grants, education, technical assistance, energy codes, and performance requirements. Colorado buildings consume more than 650 trillion British thermal units (Btu) and represent more than $6M in energy costs for homes and businesses annually. While Colorado was in the top 10 states for new construction in 2022, the average cost of a home is more than $600,000—too expensive for many residents. This team partners across a diverse group of building stakeholders to strategically develop and deploy investments that minimize greenhouse gas emissions, reduce energy costs and improve the health, safety, comfort and resilience of the built environment. The team targets programming in communities with the highest energy burden and is actively engaged in initiatives to develop a sustainable pipeline of building energy professionals across the state.
The Strategic Initiatives & Financing (SiFi) team provides energy services aimed at reducing energy consumption, increasing access to renewable energy, and promoting beneficial electrification for buildings and facilities across Colorado, including residences, cannabis operations, industrial facilities, and public buildings. It also leads strategic initiatives including investments in geothermal energy use, carbon capture and storage.
The Solar For All team, a new team in FY 24-25, will support rooftop solar installations and community solar programs for single-family and multifamily housing in low- and moderate-income Colorado communities. The team will do this through a set of program offerings, financial tools, resources including technical assistance and workforce development, and community engagement initiatives.
The Policy team conducts research to identify opportunities and market barriers, intervenes in proceedings at the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC), and represents the office at the General Assembly. It also leads work on modernizing and investment in transmission and resilience of the electric grid.
The Operations team is responsible for the fiduciary integrity of the office and creating internal processes that ensure efficient, effective, and elegant operations. This team is responsible for overseeing the office’s accounting and budget functions in order to ensure that CEO continues to prudently manage taxpayer dollars. They are responsible for designing and facilitating CEO’s data-driven strategic planning process and refining the office’s policies and procedures. Current process improvement initiatives include the development of an operations database, and surveying CEO’s customers to inform program improvements.
The Engagement & Communications team, a new team in FY 24-25, will coordinate communications, outreach, and engagement to meet the goals of the office. This includes communications through traditional media, social media, email campaigns, and our website, ensuring CEO meets the state’s accessibility requirements, as well as leading community engagement with a broad array of stakeholders. The team will target engagement with disproportionately impacted communities and lead workforce development efforts for the office in close coordination with other state agencies and partners.