Colorado · Regulated — advisory only
Commercial electricity in Colorado
Colorado commercial accounts purchase supply from their regulated utility. Tariff fit, demand charges and efficiency programs are where commercial cost decisions are actually made.
What Colorado businesses pay for electricity
Average commercial electricity price in Colorado
13.14¢ per kWh
12 months to August 2026 · EIA, preliminary
- vs US average (13.87¢)−5%below the national figure
- vs previous 12 months+9.0%from 12.06¢
- Final 2025 (EIA-861)12.37¢24th highest of 51 markets
- Average commercial customer4,304 kWha month, about 532 at the 2025 average
- Since 2020+20%US +26% over the same years
Show the numbers
| Period | Colorado | United States |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 9.13¢ | 10.19¢ |
| 2011 | 9.44¢ | 10.24¢ |
| 2012 | 9.39¢ | 10.09¢ |
| 2013 | 9.86¢ | 10.26¢ |
| 2014 | 10.08¢ | 10.74¢ |
| 2015 | 9.88¢ | 10.64¢ |
| 2016 | 9.60¢ | 10.43¢ |
| 2017 | 9.89¢ | 10.66¢ |
| 2018 | 10.02¢ | 10.67¢ |
| 2019 | 10.43¢ | 10.68¢ |
| 2020 | 10.29¢ | 10.59¢ |
| 2021 | 10.84¢ | 11.22¢ |
| 2022 | 11.58¢ | 12.41¢ |
| 2023 | 11.64¢ | 12.59¢ |
| 2024 | 11.71¢ | 12.75¢ |
| 2025 | 12.37¢ | 13.37¢ |
| 12 months to Aug 2026 (preliminary) | 13.14¢ | 13.87¢ |
This is the average revenue per kWh from every commercial customer in Colorado, from a corner shop to a hospital: energy, delivery, demand and other charges billed, divided by kWh sold. The average customer uses more than a typical small business, because a few very large customers pull the mean up. It is dated context for reading a bill — not a quote, not an available offer, and not what any one business pays.
What a typical building pays in Colorado
The same federal survey of commercial buildings behind the cost estimator, run for a typical-sized building of eight common kinds and priced at Colorado's average commercial price for the 12 months to August 2026. Typical size is the median floor area of the surveyed buildings of that kind, and the middle half is the range between the 25th and 75th percentile of them.
| Building | Typical size | Typical bill | Middle half | Survey basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Office building | 5,000 sq ft | $570 | $320 to $860 | 306 in the West |
| Medical, dental or outpatient clinic | 5,500 sq ft | $690 | $490 to $1,200 | 67 in the West |
| Retail store or showroom | 6,500 sq ft | $740 | $330 to $1,400 | 72 in the West |
| Grocery or convenience store | 2,400 sq ft | $1,400 | $980 to $2,100 | 91 nationwide |
| Sit-down restaurant or cafeteria | 3,850 sq ft | $1,700 | $980 to $2,400 | 132 nationwide |
| Warehouse or distribution centre | 6,700 sq ft | $330 | $140 to $660 | 161 in the West |
| Hotel, motel or inn | 12,000 sq ft | $2,100 | $1,500 to $2,700 | 77 in the West |
| Gym, fitness or recreation facility | 8,300 sq ft | $840 | $640 to $1,600 | 148 nationwide |
A screening estimate, not a quote. The price is an average across every commercial customer in Colorado, scaled for building size, and the buildings are whole buildings from EIA's 2018 survey, so a suite inside a larger building, or one with unusual hours or equipment, can differ a lot. Estimate your own building in Colorado, or check a real bill.
What utilities billed commercial customers in Colorado
For each utility, EIA records how many commercial customers it had in 2025 and the average revenue per kWh it billed them. The 10 largest of 29 Colorado utilities with 500 or more commercial customers are shown.
| Utility | Type | Commercial customers | Bundled price per kWh |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public Service Co of Colorado | Investor-owned | 225,020 | 12.49¢ |
| City of Colorado Springs | Municipal | 42,581 | 11.32¢ |
| CORE Electric Cooperative | Cooperative | 14,396 | 12.67¢ |
| Black Hills Colorado Electric, LLC | Investor-owned | 13,554 | 13.40¢ |
| United Power, Inc | Cooperative | 11,488 | 12.98¢ |
| Holy Cross Electric Assn, Inc | Cooperative | 11,385 | 10.46¢ |
| City of Fort Collins | Municipal | 9,111 | 12.03¢ |
| La Plata Electric Assn, Inc | Cooperative | 6,885 | 13.88¢ |
| Poudre Valley REA, Inc | Cooperative | 5,489 | 10.77¢ |
| City of Loveland | Municipal | 4,986 | 15.20¢ |
Together the 10 shown serve about 85% of Colorado’s 405,356 commercial customers, and all 29 serve about 96%. All Colorado commercial customers together averaged 12.37¢ per kWh in 2025.
Bundled is the price paid by commercial customers who buy their energy and delivery from the utility, so it is an all-in price. Delivery-only is what the utility billed customers who buy their energy from a competitive supplier, so it is the delivery charge alone and cannot be compared with a bundled price. Each figure averages every commercial customer of that utility and service type, from a corner shop to a campus, so a utility with larger customers averages a lower price per kWh. It is dated context, not a quote and not an offer, and the utility that serves an address is named on its bill.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861, 2025 final data. Utilities across the country · every utility as a CSV.
Colorado commercial accounts purchase supply from their regulated utility. There is no competitive retail supply market for general commercial accounts, so no supplier comparison exists to run in Colorado. Controllable cost sits in utility rate schedule fit, demand charges, billing accuracy and efficiency instead.
Source: Colorado Public Utilities Commission market structure; this site's market registry · 2026-10-31
Regulated — no supply choice. No supplier-shopping claim.
What a Colorado commercial account can actually do
There is no competitive retail supply market for general commercial accounts in Colorado. Any site offering to compare supplier rates for a Colorado commercial account is describing something that does not exist, and the lead form behind that offer is the product.
The cost is still controllable. It is just controlled through the tariff rather than through a contract:
- Rate schedule fit. Utility rate schedules are designed around assumed load shapes. An account whose actual shape has drifted from the schedule it sits on can be paying a demand rate built for a much steadier consumer, or a volumetric rate built for a much peakier one. Correcting it is computed from your own usage against a publicly filed alternative tariff, so you or your accountant can verify it.
- Demand charges and ratchet exposure. Frequently the largest controllable line on a Colorado commercial bill. A ratchet clause means one high interval can set a billing floor for months afterwards, and the recovery date is worth knowing before you plan any load addition.
- Billing accuracy. Meter multipliers, customer classification errors and misapplied riders are more common than most operators expect, and they compound silently because nobody re-reads a bill that looks familiar.
- Efficiency and load management, including any Colorado PUC-approved utility program the account already qualifies for and is not claiming.
None of that requires a supply market, which is why this work is available in Colorado on exactly the same terms as in a competitive state. It is also work no supplier would ever raise with you, because there is no supply commission attached to any of it.
Where Colorado sits
Every US market on one view, coloured by what an account can actually do there. Colorado is highlighted, and every other tile is a link.
- 14 you can choose — businesses can pick their supplier
- 6 some can choose — by size, cap or program
- 31 utility only — other charges can still be fixed
Number on each tile: average commercial electricity price in cents per kWh, 12 months to August 2026 (EIA, preliminary).
Before we can answer anything specific
We verify from the account, not from the address alone:
- The utility territory actually serving the service address
- The account identifier and customer class
- Current supply arrangement, including any aggregation and its termination status
- Contract expiry date and whether the decision window is open
- 12 months of consumption and, where metered, peak demand
There is no supply contract to shop in this market. We work on rate schedule fit, demand charges, billing accuracy and efficiency instead.