Amendment 82: Colorado voters will decide whether to put right natural gas in state constitution

Amendment 82 would add a right to natural gas in the state constitution at a time when Colorado is pushing both in policy and legislation to cut the use of natural gas as part of the state’s goal to reduce climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions.

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The measure was brought by Advance Colorado, a conservative political nonprofit that paid millions of dollars to collect voter signatures and get it on the ballot.

Amendment 82 echoes a 2020 right to natural gas ballot proposal and a 2024 “energy choice” ballot initiative sponsored by the oil and gas industry. Both times the Colorado measures were withdrawn as part of a compromise that entailed environmental groups removing their competing initiatives from the ballot.

Here’s what Amendment 82 would do, who is supporting it and who is opposing the initiative.

What Amendment 82 would do

The ballot initiative would add two sentences to the state constitution: “Consumers have a right to purchase natural gas for cooking or heating in their homes and businesses throughout the state. Distributors and utilities have the right to sell natural gas for homes and businesses.”

The state’s official, nonpartisan Ballot Information Booklet, known as the “blue book,” said the amendment “may limit the ability for state or local governments to enforce existing or future regulations related to natural gas.”

Since the ballot initiative would add language to the state constitution it needs to pass with 55% of the vote.

Who is behind Amendment 82 and why

The conservative political nonprofit Advance Colorado, which doesn’t disclose its donors, is sponsoring Amendment 82. 

“Natural gas is a clean, reliable and affordable form of energy that more than 70% of Colorado homes use today. That right should be protected,” Michael Fields, president of Advance Colorado, said in a statement.

An issue committee called Brighter Colorado was created in July to support six Advance Colorado ballot measures, including Amendment 82. 

The committee had raised more than $300,000 through mid-September. The largest contribution was $250,000 from the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Common Sense America.

Common Sense America and Colorado Dawn, another conservative political nonprofit that doesn’t disclose its donors, also each directly spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on signature gathering to get the initiative on the ballot. 

Advance Colorado contends that “natural gas in Colorado is under attack,” with the state’s ultimate goal — through the required clean heat plans — of reaching zero emissions by 2050.

“This is a major assault on the rights of Coloradans to choose the form of energy that best works for us,” Kristi Burton Brown, Advance Colorado’s executive vice president, said in a video presentation.

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The administration of Gov. Jared Polis issued a Greenhouse Gas Reduction Road Map in 2021, with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 50% over 2005 levels by 2030.

In 2024, the state adopted a law requiring natural gas utilities to develop Clean Heat Plans to cut their emissions 22% by 2030, in part by reducing sales. The same year Denver began requiring new commercial and large multi-family buildings to use electric space and water heating.

Who is opposing Amendment 82 and why

Environmental groups, public health groups and Democratic legislators are opposing the amendment.

In May, Democratic state legislators sought to introduce a last-minute bill to blunt the impact of Amendment 82 (then known as Initiative 177) saying the measure was poorly drafted and ambiguous.

However, within days the effort faltered and was abandoned.

In response to the Advance Colorado measure, Conservation Colorado, one of the state’s largest environmental groups, sought to place four measures on the ballot aimed at oil and gas operations, including ones tightening oil and gas operators’ liability for damages and cleanup of contaminated groundwater. 

In the past dueling industry and environmental initiatives led to a compromise with all the proposals removed from the ballot. The Conservation Colorado measures failed to make the ballot.

Conservation Colorado and Western Resource Advocates, an environmental policy group, formed an issue committee — No Pollution in the Constitution — and had raised $340,000 through mid-September. Most of the committee’s funding has come from Conservation Colorado, which doesn’t disclose its donors.

A second issues committee — Vote Common Sense — also opposes the amendment. It had raised about $495,000 as of Sept. 16.

The largest contribution as of mid-September to Vote Common Sense — $200,000 — came from the Washington, D.C.-based Green Advocacy Project, a nonprofit that gets its money from liberal groups with unclear funding sources.

“Given the risks to utility bills and safety regulations from placing vague and misleading preferences for natural gas profits into the state constitution, our top priority will be educating voters about the dangers of Initiative 177,” Conservation Colorado’s CEO Kelly Nordini said.

“If necessary, we may pursue related policies in future years, either through the legislature or via the ballot,” Nordini said.

How Amendment 82 appears on the ballot

Read the nonpartisan state ballot guide analysis of the measure.

Colorado Sun staff writer Jesse Paul contributed to this report.