Colorado's right-to-buy-natural-gas amendment falls short of 55% in unofficial results
Amendment 82 had 46.58% yes as of Thursday afternoon's count. Constitutional amendments in Colorado need 55% to pass.
By The Gradient Report Staff
Key points
Amendment 82 would have added a right to buy natural gas for cooking or heating in homes and businesses, and a right for utilities and distributors to sell it, to the Colorado Constitution.
Unofficial Secretary of State results updated Nov. 5 showed 1,090,562 votes for (46.58%) and 1,250,618 against (53.42%).
The measure needed 55% approval because it adds language to the state constitution.
Crested Butte and Lafayette have all-electric building codes for new construction, which opponents said the amendment would have limited.
Colorado voters turned down a proposed constitutional right to buy and sell natural gas, according to unofficial results. Amendment 82 had 1,090,562 yes votes, or 46.58%, and 1,250,618 no votes, or 53.42%, in Secretary of State results last updated at 1:11 p.m. Mountain time on Nov. 5. As a constitutional amendment, it needed 55% to pass.
The ballot question asked whether there should be "an amendment to the Colorado Constitution creating new law granting the right for consumers to purchase natural gas for cooking or heating in homes or businesses and for distributors and utilities to sell natural gas to consumers."
CBS Colorado reported on Nov. 4 that the amendment had failed. Counts will keep changing. Counties update results at least once every weekday by 4 p.m. Mountain time through the Nov. 12 deadline for voters to fix ballot problems, the Secretary of State's office said. Results will likely be finalized around Thanksgiving, Rocky Mountain Community Radio reported.
Supporters and opponents
Advance Colorado, a conservative political nonprofit, put the measure on the ballot. "Natural gas is a clean, reliable, and affordable form of energy that more than 70% of Colorado homes use today," Michael Fields, the group's president, told Colorado Politics, as quoted in The Gazette. "That right should be protected."
Opponents included Conservation Colorado. "Voters saw this measure for what it was and rejected it," Kelly Nordini, the group's CEO, told Rocky Mountain Community Radio. Before the election, the opposition campaign Vote Common Sense had raised just under $500,000 and the committee No Pollution in the Constitution had raised $317,000 as of Sept. 21, Colorado Politics reported.
Weld County voted for the amendment by almost 58%, Rocky Mountain Community Radio reported. In Garfield County, the no side led by eight votes.
Amendment 82 would have created a constitutional right to buy natural gas for cooking or heating in homes and businesses.AI-generated illustration
Local codes and the Clean Heat Plan
Rocky Mountain Community Radio reported that the amendment would have limited local governments' ability to restrict natural gas for heating homes. It named Crested Butte and Lafayette, which have adopted all-electric building codes for new construction, and Aspen, which is pursuing similar policies.
Opponents also argued that companies could use the right to challenge safety inspections or pollution limits, CBS Colorado reported. The Colorado Energy Office told the state Public Utilities Commission that 600,000 homes would need to convert from gas to all-electric to meet the 41% emission reduction goal in Clean Heat Plans, according to CBS Colorado.
The Common Sense Institute of Colorado counts 27 states that limit policy restrictions on natural gas, The Gazette reported.
The contractor group said "Clean Heating Coalitions" are preparing refrigerant bills in at least a dozen states. The Washington and New York rules it cited come from a building code proposal and a state HFC rule already on the books.
The board's 16-1 vote moves the date for larger units from 2031 to 2033. Lower-income and cost-burdened owners, and homes where a heat pump won't fit, can still install gas.
