Did you know…?

 

In fact, about one-third of Colorado’s electricity comes from natural gas. Under some of the strictest regulations in the world, natural gas provides Coloradans with reliable and affordable electricity 24/7.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, uses for oil and natural gas span “nearly all sectors of the economy.” The cars, buses, and trains people use to get to work, the computer or phone you’re using to read this, the kitchen at your favorite restaurant, and even the heaters that keep our homes and businesses warm, are all powered by oil and natural gas.

Here in Colorado, oil and natural gas powers almost every aspect of modern life. In addition to using oil and natural gas for cooking and generating electricity, the Colorado Energy Office says that, “nearly three quarters of Colorado households use natural gas to heat their homes.” A 2023 nationwide assessment of energy costs conducted by the personal finance website WalletHub also found that, Colorado had some of the lowest natural gas costs in the nation. And regulators are forecasting, “lower wholesale U.S. natural gas prices in 2023 and 2024.”

In 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey released data showing that Colorado’s Mancos Shale formation in the Piceance Basin contains more than 66 trillion cubic feet of natural gas—enough to heat an estimated 15 million homes for an entire year. As Governor Hickenlooper said in 2017: “We’ve become one of the best states in the country for natural gas production.” But the benefits of fracking go beyond Colorado.

In 2013, America’s fracking revolution paved the way for the United States to become a world-leading producer of oil and natural gas. In fact, a 2015 analysis from the Emory University School of Law argued that America had “returned to the role of energy-producing superpower” thanks to “a technological revolution in natural gas and oil extraction.”