How many electric cooperatives are in Colorado?

28 electric cooperatives reported bundled retail electricity sales to customers in Colorado in 2024, according to EIA. The largest is CORE Electric Cooperative, with 180,823 customers.

How many municipal and public power utilities are in Colorado?

28 — 28 municipal utilities — reported bundled retail sales in Colorado in 2024. The largest is City of Colorado Springs, with 260,682 customers.

How do public power utilities and co-ops in Colorado buy?

Municipal utilities and public utility districts are local government entities, so they generally follow Colorado's public procurement laws, with purchases approved by a city council or utility board. Electric co-ops are private, member-owned nonprofits that set their own purchasing policies, though projects financed through USDA's Rural Utilities Service follow its rules. See how utilities buy.

Where does this data come from?

From the U.S. Energy Information Administration's table "2024 Utility Bundled Retail Sales – Total" (Table 10), based on forms EIA-861 and EIA-861S. It counts customers who buy both electricity and delivery from the utility.

Colorado Public Power & Electric Co-ops: Full List

Key takeaways

56 community-owned utilities: 28 municipal utilities and 28 electric cooperatives reported bundled retail sales in Colorado in 2024.
Together they served 1,286,722 of the state's 2,978,162 bundled retail customers (43%); 2 investor-owned utilities served most of the rest.
The largest public power utility is City of Colorado Springs, with 260,682 customers.
The largest electric co-op is CORE Electric Cooperative, with 180,823 customers.

Every public power utility and co-op in Colorado

Ranked by bundled retail customers in 2024, with retail sales in megawatt-hours and average price in cents per kilowatt-hour. Names are as EIA abbreviates them. Filter by type or search.

Showing all 56 utilities

#	Utility	Type	Customers	Sales, MWh	Avg. price
1	City of Colorado Springs	Municipal	260,682	4,647,455	11.10¢
2	CORE Electric Cooperative	Cooperative	180,823	2,631,678	14.00¢
3	United Power, Inc	Cooperative	114,378	3,454,494	11.87¢
4	City of Fort Collins	Municipal	79,990	1,459,862	11.18¢
5	Mountain View Elec Assn, Inc	Cooperative	64,275	983,144	14.05¢
6	Holy Cross Electric Assn, Inc	Cooperative	61,197	1,277,199	11.12¢
7	Poudre Valley REA, Inc	Cooperative	55,344	1,546,274	10.04¢
8	La Plata Electric Assn, Inc	Cooperative	47,002	878,239	12.48¢
9	City of Longmont	Municipal	43,741	817,331	11.20¢
10	City of Loveland	Municipal	42,375	708,379	12.26¢
11	Delta Montrose Electric Assn	Cooperative	36,893	541,732	12.82¢
12	Yampa Valley Electric Assn Inc	Cooperative	27,883	545,149	13.07¢
13	San Isabel Electric Assn, Inc	Cooperative	26,046	410,690	13.78¢
14	Mountain Parks Electric, Inc	Cooperative	22,779	344,372	13.67¢
15	Grand Valley Power	Cooperative	19,689	248,924	15.15¢
16	City of Fountain	Municipal	18,290	233,420	13.01¢
17	Empire Electric Assn, Inc	Cooperative	15,861	575,829	9.64¢
18	San Miguel Power Assn, Inc	Cooperative	14,851	215,839	15.03¢
19	Sangre De Cristo Elec Assn Inc	Cooperative	14,568	131,989	18.66¢
20	San Luis Valley R E C, Inc	Cooperative	13,285	203,412	17.66¢
21	Gunnison County Elec Assn.	Cooperative	11,738	128,255	17.36¢
22	Town of Estes Park	Municipal	11,250	131,505	15.57¢
23	Southeast Colorado Power Assn	Cooperative	10,925	248,249	14.30¢
24	Morgan County Rural Elec Assn	Cooperative	9,564	473,356	11.32¢
25	Y-W Electric Assn Inc	Cooperative	8,831	396,768	12.28¢
26	Highline Electric Assn	Cooperative	8,543	404,238	11.42¢
27	City of Fort Morgan	Municipal	7,134	269,576	8.68¢
28	K C Electric Association	Cooperative	6,625	239,483	12.16¢
29	City of Glenwood Springs	Municipal	6,573	137,908	8.85¢
30	City of Trinidad	Municipal	4,680	48,750	17.46¢
31	City of Gunnison	Municipal	4,658	70,762	11.62¢
32	City of Lamar	Municipal	4,096	88,857	17.43¢
33	City of La Junta	Municipal	3,808	85,047	14.07¢
34	City of Delta	Municipal	3,706	56,494	12.50¢
35	White River Electric Assn, Inc	Cooperative	3,485	531,138	8.78¢
36	City of Aspen	Municipal	3,126	70,319	13.86¢
37	Moon Lake Electric Assn Inc	Cooperative	2,227	484,810	7.83¢
38	City of Las Animas	Municipal	2,086	25,496	18.22¢
39	City of Burlington	Municipal	2,039	31,142	13.11¢
40	City of Yuma	Municipal	1,615	20,724	10.65¢
41	City of Wray	Municipal	1,325	23,426	11.72¢
42	City of Holyoke	Municipal	1,222	21,328	13.52¢
43	Town of Lyons	Municipal	1,126	12,452	12.64¢
44	High West Energy, Inc	Cooperative	1,056	171,511	10.82¢
45	City of Julesburg	Municipal	963	11,050	10.94¢
46	City of Springfield	Municipal	944	13,052	15.72¢
47	City of Center	Municipal	903	23,514	10.24¢
48	Town of Oak Creek	Municipal	679	11,210	10.39¢
49	Town of Haxtun	Municipal	607	7,770	13.37¢
50	Town of Holly	Municipal	573	7,289	14.47¢
51	Town of Granada	Municipal	318	3,432	14.04¢
52	Town of Fleming	Municipal	223	2,759	13.48¢
53	Wheatland Electric Coop, Inc	Cooperative	59	822	17.40¢
54	Tri-County Electric Coop, Inc (OK)	Cooperative	55	220	17.86¢
55	Southwestern Electric Coop Inc	Cooperative	7	128	19.69¢
56	Deseret Generation & Tran Coop	Cooperative	1	41,600	12.18¢

Public power vs. co-ops in Colorado

Public power utilities — municipal utilities, public utility districts and state-owned utilities — are owned by the communities they serve and governed by a city council or elected board. They buy much like local governments: through public bids, board approvals and published budgets.
Electric cooperatives are private, not-for-profit utilities owned by their members, who elect the board. Most buy power from a generation and transmission (G&T) co-op and make purchasing decisions through their own policies, often faster than public agencies.

Both publish their plans: watch board and council agendas, budgets, capital improvement plans and rate filings. Our utility funding tracker and rate case & IRP tracker show where the money is coming from.

Selling to Colorado utilities

Start with the right person. Line, engineering, metering, IT and member-services managers usually define the need; the general manager or CEO and the board approve large purchases.
Use the networks. State public power and cooperative associations, joint action agencies and G&T co-ops shape purchasing and share vendor experiences.
Expect small teams. Many of the utilities on this list have only a handful of staff, so phone outreach and a clear reason to talk matter.

Read our guide to how public power, co-ops and water utilities buy, or see the largest public power utilities and largest electric co-ops nationally.

About this data

Source. EIA's "2024 Utility Bundled Retail Sales – Total" (Table 10), from forms EIA-861 and EIA-861S. Average price is EIA's revenue divided by sales.
Bundled customers only. The table counts customers who buy both energy and delivery from the utility, so it excludes distribution-only utilities and customers who buy energy from another supplier in retail-choice areas.
Community-owned utilities only. This page lists municipal, public utility district, state-owned and cooperative utilities. Investor-owned and federal utilities are left out.

Sources

U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2024 Utility Bundled Retail Sales – Total (Table 10): eia.gov

Public power utilities and electric co-ops in Colorado.