Electric Consumer

Editor: Katerine G., Editor & Data Researcher · Research & publishing: Electric Consumer Editorial Team · Data retrieved · Sources named on this page: EIA, Census Bureau · How we got these numbers · Report an error

Who heats with electricity where it is cold in Colorado?

586,733homes in Colorado heat mainly with electricity in counties that are cold in a normal year

All 64 Colorado counties average at least 4,000 heating degree days in a normal year, and 25% of the 2,325,576 occupied homes heat mainly with electricity. Rank 12 of 35 by count, 16 by share. Denver County holds the most: 115,277 electric-heated homes at 5,763 heating degree days.

Where Colorado sits among the states

Share of homes that heat with electricity in cold counties, by state, one tile per stateAlaska: no data in this seriesAKMaine: 10.1% of homesMEVermont: 8.1% of homesVTNew Hampshire: 10.7% of homesNHWashington: 57.7% of homesWAIdaho: 35.0% of homesIDMontana: 26.6% of homesMTNorth Dakota: 39.9% of homesNDMinnesota: 18.8% of homesMNIllinois: 18.2% of homesILWisconsin: 17.3% of homesWIMichigan: 11.6% of homesMINew York: 14.4% of homesNYRhode Island: 12.1% of homesRIMassachusetts: 17.9% of homesMAOregon: 53.1% of homesORNevada: 8.7% of homesNVWyoming: 23.3% of homesWYSouth Dakota: 32.6% of homesSDIowa: 24.3% of homesIAIndiana: 30.7% of homesINOhio: 25.6% of homesOHPennsylvania: 24.8% of homesPANew Jersey: 15.6% of homesNJConnecticut: no data in this seriesCTCalifornia: 2.0% of homesCAUtah: 16.4% of homesUTColorado: 25.2% of homesCONebraska: 31.2% of homesNEMissouri: 37.0% of homesMOKentucky: 49.5% of homesKYWest Virginia: 45.5% of homesWVVirginia: 32.2% of homesVAMaryland: 42.6% of homesMDDelaware: 37.0% of homesDEArizona: 0.9% of homesAZNew Mexico: 13.1% of homesNMKansas: 26.5% of homesKSArkansas: 1.9% of homesARTennessee: 9.9% of homesTNNorth Carolina: 5.6% of homesNCSouth Carolina: 0.0% of homesSCDistrict of Columbia: no data in this seriesDCOklahoma: 0.5% of homesOKLouisiana: 0.0% of homesLAMississippi: 0.0% of homesMSAlabama: 0.0% of homesALGeorgia: 0.4% of homesGAHawaii: no data in this seriesHITexas: 0.1% of homesTXFlorida: 0.0% of homesFL

Darker is a larger share. Colorado is outlined.

Colorado: cold counties and electric heat

Colorado cold counties, electric heating
Denver County329,57835.0115,2775,763-3%19.6
Arapahoe County253,89030.677,6726,245-3%13.2
El Paso County283,17424.870,1126,457-5%11.9
Jefferson County240,03123.155,4896,866-2%9.5
Adams County184,96427.150,1536,153-3%8.5
Larimer County151,57123.435,4158,168-3%6.0
Boulder County135,23024.332,8247,356-2%5.6
Douglas County136,13022.330,2896,667-3%5.2
Weld County120,01917.120,5246,360-2%3.5
Pueblo County67,81616.511,1915,305-4%1.9
Mesa County64,55917.111,0586,624-4%1.9
Broomfield County30,92126.78,2555,728-3%1.4
Eagle County20,91130.46,3659,174-3%1.1
Garfield County23,07123.55,4127,814-3%0.9
Summit County12,34739.24,83510,561-2%0.8
La Plata County23,20019.24,4507,306-4%0.8
Pitkin County9,03137.63,3939,710-2%0.6
Morgan County11,03329.23,2226,205-4%0.5
Routt County10,61929.53,1339,083-3%0.5
Montrose County17,52915.72,7476,521-4%0.5

Largest 20 of 64 cold counties, ranked by electric-heated homes. The 44 smaller cold counties are in the CSV. All counties, CSV.

Where the electric-heated homes are

The 3 largest counties, Denver County, Arapahoe County, El Paso County, hold 45% of the 586,733 electric-heated homes in Colorado cold counties. The highest electric-heat share among cold counties with 5,000+ homes is Summit County at 39%. The coldest, Lake County, averages 10,968 heating degree days; Colorado as a whole averages 6,674 when weighted by homes.

electric-heated homes, Colorado cold counties, 12 largest

  • Denver County115,277
  • Arapahoe County77,672
  • El Paso County70,112
  • Jefferson County55,489
  • Adams County50,153
  • Larimer County35,415
  • Boulder County32,824
  • Douglas County30,289
  • Weld County20,524
  • Pueblo County11,191
  • Mesa County11,058
  • Broomfield County8,255

Colorado: the 10 coldest counties

Lake County is coldest at 10,968 heating degree days with 22% electric heat. The 10 coldest hold 13,687 electric-heated homes.

Colorado 10 coldest counties
CountyHomesElectric, %Normal HDDRecent HDD
Lake County2,95921.810,96810,751
San Juan County36214.910,73510,468
Summit County12,34739.210,56110,319
Hinsdale County47312.510,44110,120
Mineral County43418.710,2009,863
Jackson County63429.210,1089,987
Grand County6,46028.89,9469,727
Clear Creek County4,51215.49,9299,693
Pitkin County9,03137.69,7109,504
Chaffee County9,19520.49,6489,429

Colorado: where electric heat is most common

Among counties with 2,000+ homes, Summit County is highest at 39% and Grand County is 10th at 29%.

Colorado 10 counties with the highest electric heat share
CountyHomesElectric, %Normal HDDRecent HDD
Summit County12,34739.210,56110,319
Pitkin County9,03137.69,7109,504
Denver County329,57835.05,7635,589
Gunnison County7,90332.79,5609,353
Arapahoe County253,89030.66,2456,069
Eagle County20,91130.49,1748,940
Routt County10,61929.59,0838,830
Morgan County11,03329.26,2055,984
San Miguel County3,99828.97,2987,051
Grand County6,46028.89,9469,727

Winter disconnections and price in Colorado

Colorado utilities logged 0.26 disconnections per 100 residential accounts a month in December to February 2024 and 0.52 in June to August.

At the 2025 average residential price of 15.85 cents a kWh, 1,000 kWh costs 158 dollars in Colorado.

Colorado in the ranking

Kentucky is 10th with 886,223 homes (49.5% of its homes). Indiana is 11th with 824,332 homes (30.7% of its homes). New Jersey is 13th with 541,309 homes (15.6% of its homes). Massachusetts is 14th with 495,363 homes (17.9% of its homes).

Colorado beside 6 neighbors

Colorado neighbors with a winter page
NeighborElectric homesShare, %Avg HDD
Arizona26,0470.9%1,788
Kansas307,44226.5%4,839
Nebraska245,56031.2%6,208
New Mexico108,30813.1%4,702
Utah180,09216.4%6,521
Wyoming55,52823.3%8,244

Look up your Colorado county

  • Pick your Colorado county.

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Sources

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Questions

How many Colorado homes heat with electricity in cold counties?

586,733 homes, 25.2% of 2,325,576 occupied Colorado homes, in 64 counties averaging 4,000+ heating degree days.

Which Colorado county has the most electric-heated homes among its cold counties?

Denver County, with 115,277 of its 329,578 homes (35%) at 5,763 normal heating degree days.

Which Colorado county is the coldest, and how many of its homes heat with electricity?

Lake County, at 10,968 normal heating degree days: 646 of 2,959 homes (22%).

How far did the last decade run from the Colorado normal?

Colorado cold counties averaged 3.0% below their 1991-2020 heating degree days over 2016-2025.

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586,733 homes in Colorado heat mainly with electricity in counties that are cold in a normal year

Cite this page

Underlying data are U.S. government works (EIA, Census Bureau). Our tables and charts: CC BY 4.0, credit Electric Consumer. The access date fills in when you open this page.

APA

Electric Consumer. (2026). Colorado winter exposure: 586,733 electric-heated homes in cold counties. Data as of 9 October 2026. Retrieved 9 October 2026, from https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/colorado.html

MLA

Electric Consumer. “Colorado winter exposure: 586,733 electric-heated homes in cold counties.” Electric Consumer, data as of 9 October 2026, https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/colorado.html. Accessed 9 October 2026.

Chicago

Electric Consumer. “Colorado winter exposure: 586,733 electric-heated homes in cold counties.” Data as of 9 October 2026. Accessed 9 October 2026. https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/colorado.html.

BibTeX

@misc{usedata_winter_states_colorado,
  author = "Electric Consumer",
  title = {Colorado winter exposure: 586,733 electric-heated homes in cold counties},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/colorado.html},
  note = {Data as of 9 October 2026. Accessed 9 October 2026}
}
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