Summary

• Statewide legislation keeps failing to resolve how Colorado should attract data centers while limiting electricity, water, and emissions impacts.
• Tax incentive proposals and guardrail proposals have repeatedly stalled, often after lawmakers could not reconcile industry, utility, environmental, and community priorities.
• Local governments are filling the gap with temporary moratoriums and tighter siting rules for large facilities.
• Power demand and grid-cost concerns remain central, especially around who pays for new load and backup generation.
• Water use and cooling requirements are a persistent point of conflict, especially for hyperscale development.
• The policy picture is still unsettled, but it appears to be shifting toward local controls and utility-level rulemaking rather than a single statewide framework.