2025 Market Facts VRP - Flipbook - Page 98
90 | ECO NO MI C PRO FI L E & MA R K ET FACT S 2025
BIZWEST FILE PHOTO
Weld County continues to be one of the biggest energy producers in Colorado.
ENERGY
Traditional, renewable sectors
energize state
Colorado ranks as one of the nation’s top producers of traditional energy — with much of that production in Weld County. But that same state
— and that same county — also are major players in renewable energy.
Colorado ranks as the fourth-largest oil-producing state, according to
the U.S. Energy Information Administration, accounting for about 4% of
U.S. crude-oil output. Much of that output comes from the Denver-julesburg Basin in northeastern Colorado. Weld County accounts for more than
81% of the state’s oil production.
And the county saw an uptick in oil production in 2024, according
to production data from the Colorado Energy & Carbon Management
Commission, producing 138,221,229 barrels of oil, up 3.7% from 2023.
Colorado overall produced 170,288,916 barrels of oil last year.
And more could be coming. The commission approved 58 oil and gas
production development plans in 2024, up 20% from the prior year.
Oil and gas is part of the natural resources and mining sector, which
accounts for a tiny share of the total employment in the state at about 1%.
However, income levels rank among the highest in the state. And employment levels are rising — about 4.4% more jobs coming in 2025, according
to the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado.
Weld County also accounts for a significant share of the state’s naturalgas production, about 56%.
But the economic impact of oil and gas production can vary widely,
with increases or decreases in commodity prices greatly affecting overall
impact, including severance taxes paid to counties.
Renewable energy accounted for about 43% of the state’s total in-state
electricity net generation, according to the U.S. Energy Information
Administration. Wind energy accounts for 67% of renewable electricity
generation, followed by solar (both utility-scale and photovoltaic or smallscale, customer-sited solar, at 27%. Hydroelectric power accounted for 6%,
with biomass at less than 1%.
The state’s use of wind power more than doubled from 2014 to 2024.
Colorado boasts significant manufacturing and R&D operations for
renewable-energy companies, including thousands of employees at Vestas
Wind Systems A/S in Windsor and Brighton.
But renewable energy could face setbacks in the coming months and
years due to federal cutbacks and elimination of some incentive programs
for wind, solar and adoption of electric vehicles.
