List of power stations in Colorado

This is a list of electricity-generating power stations in the U.S. state of Colorado, sorted by type and name. In 2019, Colorado had a total summer capacity of 16,592 MW through all of its power plants, and a net generation of 56,338 GWh.[2] The corresponding electrical energy generation mix was 44.9% coal, 30.3% natural gas, 19.3% wind, 2.9% hydroelectric (including pumped storage), and 2.2% solar. Waste-heat recovery and biomass contributed the remaining 0.4% percent. Pumped storage facilities consumed a net 192 GWh and reduced the share of reported hydroelectric generation.[1]

Small-scale solar, including customer-owned photovoltaic panels, delivered an additional net 633 GWh to Colorado's electricity grid in 2019. This compares as about one-half the amount generated by the state's utility-scale photovoltaic plants.[1] In 2004, Colorado became the first state with a voter-approved renewable portfolio standard (RPS). The RPS requires 30% of electricity sold by investor-owned utilities to come from renewable energy sources by 2020, with 3% from distributed generation.[3]

Wind turbines on Colorado's high eastern plains are productive year-round and continued to proliferate in 2019. Coal has been undergoing replacement with natural gas and renewables in the state's electricity portfolio. Half of the coal mined in Colorado was exported in 2019, and extraction of the states's oil and gas reserves increased to record-high levels.[3]