Graded Light and tightening. 16 laws, orders, rulings and local actions, each with its source, reviewed 2 November 2026.
No state or utility connection rule in force; Longmont's June 2026 cap of 100 MW on data center load is the only local limit and covers a small market.
Xcel's large-load tariff (Proceeding 26AL-0137E, filed 2 April 2026) with 15-year contracts and 80% minimums is still pending, so no binding terms exist.
Denver's one-year pause (18 May 2026) plus Jefferson, Larimer and Boulder counties and Broomfield reach the main market, but Aurora and Weld stay open.
No state data center sales tax exemption exists after HB26-1030 died in May 2026; only Douglas County's Aug 2026 Flexential rebate, so nothing to lose or gain.
No water, air permit or disclosure rule for data centers is in force at state or local level.
Scored on rules in force, 1 to 5. 5 is the most regulated. Pending rules set the arrow.
Colorado has no data center sales tax exemption: the industry-backed incentive bill (HB26-1030) and the competing regulation bill (SB26-102) both died in May 2026. Local governments then acted on their own, with Denver adopting a one-year moratorium and Lochbuie a five-year one, alongside pauses in Jefferson, Larimer and Boulder counties, Broomfield, Woodland Park and Monument, and in October 2026 Brighton (one year) and Lafayette (18 months) joined them. Xcel Energy proposed a large-load tariff in April 2026 for customers of 50 MW or more, which needs Public Utilities Commission approval.
The commission's decision on Xcel's large-load tariff (Proceeding 26AL-0137E) is the main regulatory item to watch; the evidentiary hearing ran from 21 to 28 October 2026 and no decision date is listed. Littleton holds the public hearing and second reading on its six-month pause on 3 November 2026 after a 7-0 first reading, and Fort Collins needs a second vote on a six-month pause for sites of 10 MW or more. Aurora's indefinite moratorium failed 6-5 on 26 October 2026 because reviving a rejected resolution needs two thirds; Mayor Coffman says he will bring it back, and zoning changes with a 750-foot residential setback and conditional approval out to half a mile advanced the same night for a later vote. Brighton's one-year moratorium and Lafayette's 18-month moratorium were adopted on 20 October 2026. Colorado Springs postponed its decision on Project Taurus to 13 April 2027. Sen. Cathy Kipp has filed for a new data center bill in the session starting January 2027, when Governor Polis, who backed a permanent exemption, leaves office. Existing pauses expire through 2027: Larimer County on 25 February, Jefferson County in March and Denver in May.
No statewide moratorium, but 5 local pauses are in force as of 2 November 2026, in Brighton, Denver, Jefferson, Larimer and Boulder counties, Lafayette, Lochbuie, Broomfield, Woodland Park, Monument. Proposals and expired pauses are not counted.
Tightening. Colorado is graded Light, which means incentives in place and few new obligations. No state law; Denver and other localities impose moratoria. The outlook above says what is pending.
Colorado sits in SPP and The West outside California. The grid operator decides how a new large load is studied, what it must bring or pay, and whether it can be curtailed first; the state decides siting, permits, tariffs and incentives.
No. Colorado's data center incentives were not pulled back in 2025 or 2026 as of 2 November 2026.
On Genloop's five-line rubric (1 least regulated, 5 most) Colorado scores grid connection 1, power rates 2, siting and land use 3, tax treatment 3, permits and water 1, a mean of 2.0. The most regulated line is tax treatment: No state data center sales tax exemption exists after HB26-1030 died in May 2026; only Douglas County's Aug 2026 Flexential rebate, so nothing to lose or gain.
16 items: each is a law, order, tariff, ruling, utility action or local decision that changes what a data center must do, pay or disclose, or where it may be built. Failed and pending measures are marked. Each links to its source.
The city council gave first-reading approval on 6 October 2026 and adopted the ordinance unanimously on second reading on 20 October 2026. It halts intake, review and approval of permits, licences, zoning and other land use requests for data centers for one year from the effective date, with a possible 90-day extension while the city writes land use rules covering water, wastewater and electric power. The same week as first reading, developers withdrew a rezoning application for a 2.5 million square foot, eight-building campus in northeast Brighton.
Source: brightonco.govOn 20 October 2026 the city council passed an 18-month moratorium on new data center applications, the same night Brighton adopted its one-year pause.
Source: cbsnews.comFiled 2 April 2026 after a commission order, now PUC Proceeding 26AL-0137E. For loads of 50 MW or more (customers of 20 to 50 MW may also be covered): a 15-year contract, payment for at least 80% of contracted power, a security deposit equal to six months of service and an exit fee equal to all remaining minimum bills, plus a clean transition component and expedited approval of new generation. Xcel expects to need 950 MW of new generation for these customers in five years. The commission held public comment hearings on 25 August and 20 October 2026 and an evidentiary hearing on 21, 22, 26, 27 and 28 October 2026; the decision date is listed as to be determined.
Source: puc.colorado.govOrdinance 22 of 2026 passed first reading 7-0 on 20 October 2026. It would bar the city from accepting, processing or approving rezoning, site plan, subdivision, use, building permit or other land use applications to establish, build or expand data centers for six months from the effective date, or until a data center ordinance takes effect, while staff study land use, energy, water, noise, air quality, infrastructure and economic impacts. Applications deemed complete before first reading and projects with vested rights are exempt. The public hearing and second reading are set for 3 November 2026.
Source: littletonco.govAfter the council voted down a six-month moratorium on 10 August 2026, an indefinite halt on new data center applications came back on 26 October 2026 with Mayor Mike Coffman's support. It drew six yes votes to five no votes but needed a two-thirds majority to revive a previously rejected resolution, so it failed. Coffman said he would bring it forward again. It would not have affected Vantage's Trident application filed 25 August 2025, which has completed two city reviews with a third under way.
Source: coloradopolitics.comOn 20 October 2026 the city council held first reading of a six-month moratorium on data centers of 10 MW or larger. A second vote and public hearing are needed before it takes effect.
Source: cbsnews.comAt a study session on 26 October 2026 the council advanced zoning changes that would bar data centers within 750 feet of residential zones, require conditional council approval between 750 feet and half a mile, and allow them by right at half a mile or more. The changes need approval at a future regular meeting.
Source: coloradopolitics.comOn 17 September 2026 the city council voted 7-2 to postpone its final decision on Raeden's 50 MW AI data center at a former chip plant until 13 April 2027, giving the developer time to negotiate a large-load contract with Colorado Springs Utilities and the city time to draft rules for future data centers.
Source: coloradopolitics.comOn 11 August 2026 county commissioners unanimously approved a business personal property tax rebate estimated at $19 million over 35 years for Flexential's Parker data center, which is expected to create 16 jobs. Flexential will keep paying full real property taxes and utility rates and fund its own grid upgrades; the town of Parker approved the project itself.
Source: denver7.comLochbuie approved a five-year moratorium, the longest in the state. Broomfield passed an 18-month moratorium on data centers of 10 MW or more, Woodland Park an 18-month pause and Monument a six-month pause.
Source: kunc.orgIn June 2026 the council capped data center energy use at 5% of the regional grid, or 100 MW, aimed at hyperscale sites.
Source: kunc.orgJefferson County extended its moratorium to March 2027 on 19 May 2026, Larimer County extended its own to February 2027, and Boulder County enacted a six-month moratorium at the start of June 2026.
Source: kunc.orgApproved unanimously on 18 May 2026. It does not stop existing operations or projects already permitted. A working group will study noise, air pollution, energy use and zoning.
Source: kunc.orgWould have offered no tax break and required new large data centers to match 100% of their use with renewable energy by 2031, cover their full infrastructure costs through long-term utility contracts and carry out community impact analyses. A Senate committee killed it on 11 May 2026 at the sponsor's request; she plans to bring it back in 2027.
Source: coloradopolitics.comWould have given a 20 to 30 year sales and use tax exemption in return for $250 million of investment in five years, jobs at 110% of the local average wage and closed-loop cooling. The House Energy and Environment Committee postponed it indefinitely on 7 May 2026; a similar bill failed in 2025.
Source: coloradosun.comIn April 2026 the county changed its zoning to allow data centers under 50 MW in certain industrial areas, subject to special review with a public hearing.
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