The bill makes the following changes to the "Labor Peace Act":

• Specifies that employees' right to bargain collectively includes the right to bargain collectively concerning any mandatory subject of bargaining;
• Eliminates the requirement for a second election to negotiate a union security agreement clause in the collective bargaining process;
• Declares that it is not an unfair labor practice for an employer to refuse to agree to a lawful proposal made by the exclusive representative of the employees, or for the exclusive representative of the employees to refuse to agree to a lawful proposal made by the employer, concerning a mandatory subject of bargaining if the refusing party has bargained in good faith with the other party; and
• Requires employers and employees, through their exclusive representative, to bargain in good faith.
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill creates the data center development and incentive program (program) operated by the Colorado data center development authority (authority), which is newly created in the Colorado office of economic development (office) ( section 1 of the bill). The authority consists of 9 members, as follows:

• 2 members appointed by the governor with the consent of the senate;
• The director of the Colorado energy office or the director's designee;
• One member who has experience in water projects or water resource management, appointed by the president of the senate;
• One member who has experience in clean and renewable energy, appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives;
• 2 members who have experience in data center development, with one member appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives and one member appointed by the president of the senate;
• One member representing a statewide organization that represents workers in trade crafts who construct data centers, appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives; and
• One member representing a statewide organization that represents contractors who construct data centers, appointed by the president of the senate.

To incentivize efficient data center development, the program allows a 100% state sales and use tax exemption on qualified purchases to the operator of a certified data center. To be eligible for certification, the operator of the data center, or a data center operator collectively with participating data center tenants, must:

• Have initiated a preliminary consultation with the utility that will provide electricity for the data center project regarding interconnection feasibility, capacity, and infrastructure requirements;
• Commit to making a $250 million minimum investment in data center infrastructure within 5 years;
• Commit to creating new full-time jobs, including employees and long-term service and maintenance positions, that satisfy specified criteria and breaking ground on the data center project within 2 years of obtaining certification;
• Commit to complying, and ensure that the utility that provides electricity to the data center also complies, with craft labor requirements, apprenticeship utilization requirements, and prevailing wage requirements; and
• Commit to obtaining certification under one of several energy efficiency standards, implementing water stewardship strategies that optimize operational water management, ensuring that all backup power generation associated with the data center project meets specified requirements, and consulting with the department of natural resources.

To obtain certification, a data center operator must apply to the authority in a form and manner to be determined by the authority. The authority is required to review a data center operator's application for certification and may award certification to a data center operator that has demonstrated that it will satisfy the certification criteria ( section 1 ).

A data center operator that obtains certification for a data center project is eligible for a 100% state sales and use tax exemption on the purchase and use of qualified data center infrastructure and systems for 20 years from the date that the data center project was certified, so long as the data center satisfies ongoing post-certification requirements and submits annual compliance reports to the authority. As long as the data center meets post-certification requirements as demonstrated in the annual compliance reports, a data center operator of a certified data center may apply to the authority for an extension of the sales and use tax exemption for an additional 10 years. If the authority determines that a data center operator is not fulfilling its obligations and commitments to retain certification, the authority may revoke the certification and the data center operator is required to repay the state for the sales and use tax benefits that it received ( sections 1 and 5 ). The exemption for a certified data center does not apply to local sales and use taxes unless the exemption is expressly included at the time of adoption or amendment of the local sales tax ordinance or resolution ( section 4 ).

The bill allows a utility regulated by the public utilities commission (commission) to submit a targeted resource acquisition application to the commission to propose methods of meeting emerging large-load customer needs. The bill also specifies how a utility may finance resource and infrastructure needs in connection with emerging large-load customers ( section 3 ).
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Section 1 of the bill requires an employer to ensure the employer's workplace is free from recognized hazards, as interpreted consistent with the federal occupational safety and health administration's interpretation of the general duty clause of the "Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970" (OSH Act) as of September 1, 2025. Additionally, employers have the general duty to:

• Ensure that each workplace is constructed, equipped, arranged, operated, and conducted as to provide reasonable and adequate protection to the lives, health, and safety of all individuals employed or working in the workplace; and
• Comply with standards for workplace health and safety adopted by rule by the division of labor standards and statistics in the department of labor and employment (division).

The bill authorizes the following actions to address workplace health and safety concerns:

• The attorney general or the division may refer workplace health and safety concerns to relevant state or local authorities;
• The attorney general, the division, a labor organization, or a person aggrieved by a violation of the bill may file a civil action;
• For each violation of the bill or of rules adopted pursuant to the bill, a court may order the person that violates the bill or rules to pay statutory damages to a person aggrieved by the violation; and
• A court may order a person that violates the bill or rules adopted pursuant to the bill to pay a penalty to the attorney general for each violation.

The bill creates the workplace health and safety fund (fund) into which penalties collected pursuant to the bill are credited. The money in the fund may be used by the division for specified purposes.

The bill authorizes the division to adopt rules:

• To replace any requirement of the OSH Act or the "Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977" that is repealed, revoked, or amended in any manner that results in the federal protections of workers' rights or worker safety becoming less stringent;
• To define standards for workplace health and safety if there is no standard in effect under the OSH Act; and
• As necessary to implement the bill.

Sections 2 through 8 make conforming amendments.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill defines critical infrastructure related to commodity metals and adds several different criminal offenses related to the sale of, possession of, and failure to report stolen critical infrastructure.

The bill prohibits an owner, keeper, or proprietor (owner) of a junk shop, junk store, salvage yard, or junk cart or other vehicle and every collector of or dealer in junk, salvage, or other secondhand property who buys a commodity metal that was part of critical infrastructure (buyer) from paying cash for the commodity metal unless the seller is paid by means of any process in which a picture of the seller is taken.

The bill prohibits a buyer from possessing a commodity metal that was part of critical infrastructure without a certification from the seller or donator of the commodity metal. A buyer who unknowingly takes possession of commodity metals from critical infrastructure as part of a load of otherwise non-commodity metals without a written certification has a duty to notify the appropriate law enforcement agency or municipal code enforcement agency.

An owner of a junk shop, junk store, salvage yard, or junk cart must make their book or register available to a law enforcement agency or municipal code enforcement agency upon request.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill creates the Colorado electric grid resiliency task force (task force) to study the issue of grid resilience and to make recommendations to the governor and the general assembly. The task force is 18 members.

The president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives shall organize and call the first meeting of the task force by November 28, 2026. The task force meets at least once every month until it completes its duties, but the chair may call additional meetings. Upon request by the task force, the department of regulatory agencies shall provide office space, equipment, and staff services as necessary.

The task force has the following duties on a biennial basis:

• Doing a rigorous, uniform engineering assessment of every covered transformer in Colorado;

• Developing a prioritized statewide hardening and spare-transformer plan with cost estimates, cost-benefit analyses, and recommended funding mechanisms;

• Recommending rules, legislation, and interstate or federal cost-sharing arrangements and publishing a report detailing these recommendations; and

• Reporting its findings to the house of representatives energy and environment committee and the senate transportation and energy committee.

The bill sets minimum technical standards for the assessment, plan, and recommendations.

A transmission-owning entity must participate in the task force assessment and provide any requested data. These entities may recover reasonable and prudent costs incurred to comply with the bill through rates, member assessments, or ordinary budgeting processes.

Owners or operators of covered transformers are required to file with the federal energy regulatory commission a report, marked as "Critical Energy/Electric Infrastructure Information". Standards are set for the report. Biennially, the public utilities commission must prepare a summary of the report and present it to the house of representatives energy and environment committee and the senate transportation and energy committee.

The public utilities commission must adopt rules requiring implementation of the highest-priority hardware-based mitigation measures identified by the task force unless equivalent protection is demonstrated.

The task force repeals on September 1, 2031. Before the repeal, it is scheduled for review under the sunset law.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill requires a gas distribution utility (utility) to exempt carbon dioxide emissions resulting from the combustion of gas by residential customers from the utility's clean heat plan filed with the public utilities commission (commission). A utility must exclude residential carbon dioxide emissions from the baseline and projected emissions calculations used in the utility's clean heat plan.

If a utility has already submitted a clean heat plan to the commission prior to the effective date of the bill, the utility may submit a revised clean heat plan to the commission that excludes residential carbon dioxide emissions from the utility's baseline and projected emissions calculations. The bill requires the commission to adopt rules that allow a utility to submit a revised clean heat plan.

The bill permits a utility to recover costs related to a system safety and integrity project, which is defined as a certain type of project that improves the safety or integrity of the gas distribution system.

The bill repeals a prohibition on a gas utility providing incentives to customers for establishing gas service to a property.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Transportation Legislation Review Committee. Currently, the clean fleet enterprise (enterprise) may provide money to help public and private owners and operators of motor vehicle fleets finance acquisitions of compressed natural gas motor vehicles that are trucks if at least 90% of the fuel for the trucks will be recovered methane. Pursuant to current law, starting on January 1, 2027, the enterprise may only provide money for this purpose so long as the enterprise determines that electric motor vehicles are not yet practically available or do not meet the operational requirements such as cargo carrying capacity and driving range for specific categories of trucks (funding limitation). The bill repeals the funding limitation.

The bill authorizes the enterprise to incentivize, support, and accelerate the replacement of a motor vehicle that uses compression ignition to start the engine, has a gross vehicle weight rating of greater than 26,000 pounds, is based in the state, and is part of a fleet with in-state annual miles driven of at least 75% of the fleet's total annual miles driven (heavy-duty truck), that is powered by a diesel-fueled internal combustion engine and is a model year of 2009 or earlier (aging heavy-duty diesel truck) with a heavy-duty truck that is a model year of 2018 or later (new heavy-duty truck) until December 31, 2031. The bill also allows the enterprise to provide funding or financing through grant programs, rebate programs, revolving loan funds, or other strategies to help owners and operators of aging heavy-duty diesel truck fleets finance the replacement of aging heavy-duty diesel trucks with new heavy-duty trucks to reduce the up-front costs of acquiring new heavy-duty trucks until December 31, 2031.

To qualify for any money provided by the enterprise for the replacement of aging heavy-duty diesel trucks with new heavy-duty trucks:

• The purchaser of the new heavy-duty truck must surrender an aging heavy-duty diesel truck to the seller of the new heavy-duty truck at the time of the transaction;
• The seller of the new heavy-duty truck must decommission the aging heavy-duty diesel truck by drilling a hole in the engine's block and cutting the chassis rails in half; and
• The seller must be an authorized dealer of new heavy-duty trucks who must certify that the new heavy-duty truck meets all state and federal emissions and safety standards for its model year.

The enterprise may use the clean fleet enterprise fund (fund) to provide money to support the replacement of aging heavy-duty diesel trucks with new heavy-duty trucks, but the enterprise is required to ensure that it does not expend more than 20% of the fund's income during a state fiscal year for the support.

The enterprise may encourage the department of public health and environment to explore whether decommissioning aging heavy-duty diesel trucks and replacing them with new heavy-duty trucks qualifies as a transportation control measure that offsets growth in emissions from growth in vehicle miles traveled or number of vehicle trips taken pursuant to the federal "Clean Air Act".

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Current law requires certain entities to file a clean energy plan (plan) to achieve an 80% decrease of greenhouse gas emissions caused by the entity's electricity sales in Colorado by 2030 relative to 2005 levels. Other entities may voluntarily choose to file a plan.

Under current law, no later than March 31, 2026, an entity required to submit a plan may inform the division of administration (division) in the department of public health and environment in writing of challenges the entity is encountering or expects to encounter in achieving the 80% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The bill clarifies that an entity that has voluntarily submitted a plan may also inform the division of challenges the entity is encountering or expects to encounter in achieving the 80% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The bill also extends the deadline by which an entity must inform the division of challenges from March 31, 2026, to May 31, 2026.

A cooperative electric association (association) exempted from regulation by the public utilities commission or a municipal utility (utility) that informs the division of challenges the association or utility is encountering or expects to encounter has until December 31, 2026, to submit to the division an updated plan with the earliest year, not later than 2040, that the association or utility expects to be able to achieve the 80% decrease of greenhouse gas emissions, relative to 2005 levels, without impairing the association's or utility's ability to maintain applicable electric reliability standards and without increasing the association's or utility's average annual electric rates greater than 1.5%.

The bill prohibits the air quality control commission and the division from undertaking any action that impairs the association's or utility's ability to maintain applicable electric reliability standards or that increases the association's or utility's average annual electric rates greater than 1.5%.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill creates the Colorado clean energy permitting coordination office (office) in the Colorado energy office to provide coordination and technical assistance to owners or operators, local governments, and state permitting authorities regarding permitting for the construction, expansion, repowering, or material modification of a clean energy resource facility project (covered clean energy project).

At the request of the owner or operator of a covered clean energy project (owner or operator) or a local government with jurisdiction over the covered clean energy project or that the owner or operator determines is likely to experience direct and significant impacts from the covered clean energy project (host community), the office must convene a meeting (application coordination meeting) to coordinate the filing of permit applications for the covered clean energy project that includes certain interested parties. Following an application coordination meeting, the office must prepare a coordinated permitting schedule for the covered clean energy project that identifies the permits and approvals likely to be required for the covered clean energy project and certain other information (coordinated permitting schedule).

The office is required to develop and maintain a public dashboard (public dashboard) on the office's website for an owner or operator that receives a coordinated permitting schedule or that receives state technical assistance from the office.

Effective July 1, 2027, at least 90 days before the owner or operator submits the first state permit application for a covered clean energy project, the owner or operator must submit a community engagement plan to the office and relevant state permitting authorities. A community engagement plan must identify host communities for the project and describe certain other community engagement efforts regarding the project.

Effective July 1, 2027, an owner or operator must prepare a community benefit agreement and submit the community benefit agreement to the office and the parties participating in the covered clean energy project's application coordination meeting. The office is required to develop model community benefit agreement terms for a covered clean energy project and post the terms on the covered clean energy project's public dashboard or the office's website.

The office is required to prioritize technical assistance and permitting readiness support for covered clean energy projects that repower or reuse retired or retiring fossil fuel generation sites, are located in coal transition communities, or are located on brownfield sites. On or before December 1, 2027, the office shall publish and update annually an inventory identifying coal plant and industrial sites and brownfield sites suitable for redevelopment for clean energy resource facilities and other key infrastructure considerations.

Effective July 1, 2027, an owner or operator must develop and submit to the office a safety and emergency preparedness plan and coordinate with relevant local emergency management agencies and the Colorado division of homeland security and emergency management in implementing the safety and emergency preparedness plan. The office shall post a safety and emergency preparedness plan on the covered clean energy project's public dashboard or the office's website.

Effective November 1, 2027, an owner or operator of a covered clean energy project must submit to the office a grid reliability and security statement. The office must coordinate with the public utilities commission and utilities as appropriate to align permitting readiness with grid reliability needs.

On or before December 1, 2027, and on or before each December 1 thereafter, the office must submit a report to certain committees of the general assembly summarizing certain information about the functions of the office.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill creates the Colorado nuclear workforce development and education council (council) in the Colorado school of mines to help meet growing workforce demand in the nuclear energy sector. The bill establishes a related grant program (grant program) to provide grants to institutions of higher education for the development or expansion of nuclear engineering degree or certificate programs or course offerings. The council shall convene advisory sessions with stakeholders from the nuclear, educational, and workforce development sectors; implement the grant program; and contract with one or more third-party entities for staffing and operational assistance.

The council may seek, accept, and expend gifts, grants, and donations for council-related purposes. The state treasurer shall credit the gifts, grants, and donations to the Colorado nuclear workforce development and education cash fund (cash fund), which is created in the bill. The general assembly shall not appropriate general fund money to implement or maintain council operations or grant awards. The council shall convene and begin awarding grants only after the balance of the cash fund reaches or exceeds $500,000.

The bill imposes requirements to report to the general assembly about the council's funding sources, grant program implementation, and other uses of the grant program money. The bill repeals the council, effective September 1, 2033, unless the council is extended following a sunset review.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill establishes a first and preferred opportunity for available employment for coal transition workers (hiring preference). A business entity located in a coal transition community that is engaged in the business of constructing or operating railroads, utilities, energy generation facilities, or advanced manufacturing facilities (covered business) is required to comply with the hiring preference. A covered business does not include the state government or a local government.

A covered business is required to make good faith efforts to provide a hiring preference to a coal transition worker who meets the minimum qualifications for an employment position (qualified coal transition worker). A covered business may hire an individual who is not a qualified coal transition worker only if either a qualified coal transition worker did not apply for employment with the covered business or each qualified coal transition worker declined a job offer from a covered business.

A covered business is required to report annually to the executive director of the department of labor and employment or their designee (executive director). The executive director is required to adopt policies and procedures to implement the bill.

Currently, a public entity is not allowed to invest public funds in certain types of investments, such as equity instruments, instruments convertible to equity, or equity interests, or to deposit public funds with any person except certain depository institutions, which are primarily banks. The bill authorizes a public entity to deposit or invest, either directly or through an investment firm or other third party authorized by the public entity, public funds from a payment or settlement that the public entity has received to offset the socioeconomic impacts to a community or government from the closure of a coal mine or coal power generating station in any investment permitted by an investment policy approved by the public entity.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Currently, a contractor on a private construction project has a statutory right to secure payment with a general mechanic's lien. However, if the contractor knowingly files on the lien for an excessive amount, the contractor forfeits all rights only to the lien and is liable to the person against whom the lien was filed for costs and attorney fees. A contractor on a public construction project has a similar right to secure payment by filing a verified statement of claim (VSOC), which requires the project owner to withhold funds sufficient to pay the claim, usually in the form of a bond. The bill clarifies that a public construction contractor who knowingly files a VSOC or asserts a bond claim for an excessive amount forfeits all rights only pursuant to the laws for public construction project bonds and liens to recover the amount claimed. Thus, the bill aligns, for both a private and public construction contractor, the penalty for claiming an excessive amount on a lien or bond to the loss of all statutory rights related to that lien or bond, respectively. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

The bill prohibits the state, a county, a municipality, a city and county, a district, or other political subdivision of the state (governmental entity) from issuing or renewing a building permit, construction permit, or contractor's license unless the applicant has first filed with the governmental entity's licensing authority or permitting agency a signed declaration verifying that the applicant, the general contractor, and every subcontractor at any tier either maintains valid workers' compensation insurance coverage or has rejected such coverage. An applicant shall provide proof of the workers' compensation insurance coverage or proof of rejection of coverage through filing specified documents.

Prior to commencing any work under a building or construction permit, a general contractor or permit holder shall ensure that every subcontractor at any tier and any person performing work under the permit has provided proof of workers' compensation insurance coverage or proof of rejection of coverage.

If at any time the governmental entity's licensing authority or permitting agency finds that a violation of the bill has occurred, the governmental entity's licensing authority or permitting agency shall revoke or suspend any building permit, construction permit, or contractor's license issued to that contractor.

The director of the division of workers' compensation is authorized to adopt rules to implement the bill, including procedures for electronic verification of coverage, reporting requirements, and coordination with licensing authorities and permitting agencies.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill creates certain requirements for large-load data centers, which are defined in the bill as:

• A new data center that has a peak load of more than 30 megawatts or multiple new data centers with a collective peak load of more than 60 megawatts; or
• An existing data center that adds a peak load of more than 30 megawatts or multiple existing data centers that add a collective peak load of more than 60 megawatts.

No later than June 30, 2030, the public utilities commission (commission) is required to make a determination on whether 100% hourly matching by large-load data centers is technically and economically feasible. If the commission determines that 100% hourly matching is not technically and economically feasible, the commission must make a determination of the highest percentage of hourly matching by large-load data centers that is technically and economically feasible (hourly matching requirement), which percentage the commission must update on a regular basis.

Beginning January 1, 2031, an operator of a large-load data center (operator) must generate, purchase, or otherwise acquire a quantity of electricity generated from renewable resources necessary to meet 100% of the operator's large-load data center's total annual electricity consumption. An operator must also achieve the hourly matching requirement. An operator must comply with these requirements through a tariff, contract, or program entered into with a utility, one or more power purchase agreements entered into with an independent power producer, or a self-supply of electricity.

An operator must enter into contracts of at least 15 years with a utility to pay for certain infrastructure and resource costs. An operator must also contribute to utility demand-side management programs and comply with certain operational water management and on-site backup generation requirements.

No later than June 30, 2028, and no later than each June 30 thereafter, an operator must report to the department of public health and environment certain information about the large-load data center, including information about the large-load data center's annual electricity and water consumption. The department of public health and environment must compile the information reported and provide a report to the general assembly and commission and make the report publicly available on the department's website.

A utility is prohibited from interconnecting or supplying electricity to a large-load data center unless:

• The operator has either provided an up-front payment or entered into a contract of at least 15 years with the utility, which up-front payment or contract must require the operator to pay for certain infrastructure and resource costs;
• On or after January 1, 2031, the utility has verified that the operator is in compliance with the hourly matching requirement; and
• The utility determines and ensures that the addition of the large-load data center to the utility's system does not negatively affect the utility's ability to provide reliable service to customers or meet applicable clean energy targets or increase the utility's greenhouse gas emissions.

A utility is prohibited from offering economic development rates to large-load data centers and is required to develop and offer demand response programs or flexible connection tariffs to the utility's customers that are operators. A utility is required to solicit and accept voluntary financial contributions from operators to certain utility programs, which contributions must supplement, rather than substitute, the utility's funding of those programs. A utility that is rate-regulated by the commission with customers that are operators is required to describe efforts to comply with the bill in the utility's annual report filed with the commission.

On or before June 30, 2027, the department of local affairs must publish model codes for the development of large-load data centers, which model codes must consider certain best practices. In developing the model codes, the department of local affairs must conduct a robust stakeholder and engagement process and evaluate, update, and review the model codes every 5 years.

With its development permit application for a large-load data center, the person responsible for the initial development of a large-load data center (developer) must submit a site assessment to the local government reviewing the application. A site assessment must include certain components.

If the siting of a large-load data center is proposed in a disproportionately impacted community or if an operator of an existing data center in a disproportionately impacted community plans to expand the data center's peak load such that the data center will become a large-load data center, the developer or operator must undergo a cumulative impacts analysis before the development or expansion begins. The developer or operator is required to contract with a third-party contractor selected by the department of public health and environment to perform the cumulative impacts analysis.

In reviewing a development permit application for a large-load data center that is in a disproportionately impacted community or is proposed to be in a disproportionately impacted community, the applicable local government is required to consider the applicant's cumulative impacts analysis and whether the mitigation strategies described by the applicant are sufficient to avoid any negative impacts identified in the cumulative impacts analysis. Prior to applying for a development permit that is in a disproportionately impacted community or is proposed to be in a disproportionately impacted community, a developer or operator must comply with certain public hearing, notice, and community outreach requirements.

If the siting of a large-load data center is proposed in a disproportionately impacted community or if an operator of an existing data center in a disproportionately impacted community plans to expand the data center's peak load such that the data center will become a large-load data center, the developer or operator must enter into a community benefit agreement with the disproportionately impacted community before the development or expansion begins. The developer is required to consult with the applicable local government and certain coalition groups and consider certain topics during community benefit agreement negotiations.

An operator is required to comply with certain labor standards.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill makes the following changes to statutes concerning standards for accessible housing:

• Repeals the definition of "ground story level";
• Updates and clarifies definitions that reference International Code Council standards;
• Clarifies that the intent and purpose of the standards for accessible housing law is to serve persons with nonambulatory and semiambulatory disabilities;
• Permits covered enforcing agencies to develop alternative processes to resolve appeals of orders, decisions, or determinations made by the enforcing agency regarding the application and interpretation of the standards for accessible housing law; and
• Requires covered developers to create an implementation plan to deliver accessible units as required by the standards for accessible housing law.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)