DENVER — Today, Conservation Colorado released findings from a recent poll that overwhelmingly shows how important common-sense rules are for data center development. Global Strategy Group conducted the poll from April 16-21, 2026, and surveyed 800 likely 2026 voters in Colorado.

When asked if “Colorado should implement common-sense rules to protect rate payers, communities, and our natural resources like air and water from unrestricted data center growth,” 91% of Colorado voters said they agree and only 9% disagree. 

The Colorado legislature is currently considering SB26-102, sponsored by Sen. Cathy Kipp and Rep. Kyle Brown, that establishes common-sense rules for future data center development that would protect ratepayers and the environment. 

“Data centers in other states have dramatically increased energy bills, guzzled up local water and worsened air pollution and health and noise problems for local communities,” said Kelly Nordini, CEO of Conservation Colorado. “Coloradans should not be left with higher energy costs, dirtier air and less water so that some of the richest tech companies in the world can profit. With 91% of Coloradans in support of fair rules for big tech, the Colorado legislature must move forward with the commonsense guardrails proposed by SB26-102.” 

Tech companies are eyeing Colorado communities to build new, power-hungry, large-scale data centers. Xcel Energy estimates that new data centers could lead to more than a 40% increase in the utility’s peak power demand by 2035, which, without the protections in SB26-102, could increase electric rates for everyone and prolong the use of dirty fossil fuels. 

SB26-102 sets fair rules for data centers by:

• Limiting the use of diesel generators and requiring data centers to use the cleanest fuel available
• Making large-scale data centers responsible for securing their own renewable energy resources
• Establishing standards to help local governments address noise and light pollution impacts 
• Requiring data centers to report on water consumption and efforts to reduce water usage
• Ensuring data centers pay the full cost of new electricity generation, transmission and distribution

The poll also demonstrated Coloradans’ understanding that corporate profits are increasing their utility bills. Seventy-six percent of Colorado voters agree that “Coloradans’ bills are increasing mainly because corporations are raising prices to increase their profits.” Only 23% disagree. Similarly,  79% of Colorado voters also agree that “Coloradans’ electricity bills are increasing mainly because monopoly utility companies are raising prices to increase their profits.”

In March, the Energy and Policy Institute (EPI) also released an analysis providing a nationwide look at utility profit margins using publicly reported financial data from operating electric utilities. The analysis demonstrates how ratepayers pay the price for utility profits. Alongside the report, EPI launched UtilityProfitTracker.org, an easy-to-use calculator that estimates the amount of profits in a customer’s electric bill.