Colorado House Republican Leaders Condemn PUC’s Costly Electrification Mandate

(Denver, CO - December 2, 2025) House Minority Leader Jarvis Caldwell (HD 20) and Assistant Minority Leader Ty Winter (HD 47) today condemned the Public Utilities Commission’s decision to mandate a 41 percent reduction in natural gas emissions over the next decade. The ruling forces Colorado families to pay for an aggressive statewide electrification plan that will require hundreds of thousands of homeowners and landlords to replace existing heating systems with expensive electric heat pumps and appliances.

“What in the hell is the PUC doing to the people of Colorado in the name of climate activism? The very families they claim to help are the ones who will be pushed to the brink by this mandate. Our state is already mismanaged and running billion dollar deficits, so who exactly is going to pay for this? This decision will hit low income families, small businesses, and Colorado’s economy the hardest,” said Minority Leader Caldwell.

Under the new mandate, Xcel and other natural gas providers are required to overhaul home heating systems, expand high cost incentive programs, and raise rates to fund widespread electrification efforts. Meeting these targets will require unprecedented levels of customer participation and billions of dollars spent on forced equipment replacements, home retrofits, and utility-driven upgrades.

Assistant Minority Leader Winter also issued a blunt warning about the impact on rural communities.

“Colorado has already watched thousands of good paying jobs disappear and seen severance tax revenue drained from the schools, roads, and rural hospitals that depend on it. Now the state is moving to dictate how families in rural Colorado heat their homes. This is government overreach at its worst, and rural Colorado pays the price every single time,” Winter said.

Republican leaders emphasized that this mandate puts the interests of activist groups ahead of the families who will pay the bill. They warned that Colorado is once again prioritizing the policy demands of environmental organizations over the needs of the hardworking people who keep this state running.

“Our priority is keeping energy reliable and affordable,” Caldwell said. “This mandate does neither. Colorado families deserve policies that protect their wallets, not decisions that make it harder to live, work, and heat their homes.”

Winter added: “House Republicans will keep fighting for rural families and for every Coloradan who cannot afford another costly, unrealistic mandate from unelected regulators.”