Colorado clean energy helps Eastern Plains job growth

Clean energy jobs have propelled growth on the Eastern Plains with high-paying work in some of the state’s smallest counties, according to a new report by the Colorado solar industry that claims a $6.3 billion economic statewide impact by renewables. 

The growth will continue as solar and wind farms on the plains continue to push out dirtier fossil fuel generation, the report says, with clean energy predicted to add 3,594 jobs statewide in the next 10 years and 961 of those in Eastern Plains counties. That would boost economic impact by another $1.7 billion, the industry report says. 

Eastern Plains clean energy jobs grew from 4,316 in 2010 to 6,715 in 2024. Those utility jobs are the second-highest-paying job category in the eastern counties. 

“Clean energy jobs here went from almost nothing in 2010 to dozens of good-paying positions today, and that kind of growth matters in a county our size,” said Troy McCue, executive director of Lincoln County Economic Development Corporation. “This industry is helping us diversify our local economy in a way that benefits everyone, not just the energy sector.”

Colorado’s electric generation mix has shifted steadily in the past two decades from being dominated by coal and natural gas power to a growing reliance on utility-scale solar arrays, wind turbine farms and backup battery storage. Colorado law has set a target of 80% power generation by renewable sources by 2030, and the state’s utilities are on track to hit those goals. 

The Trump administration has encouraged a return to fossil fuel generation with emergency orders extending the lives of coal plants scheduled to close, including Tri-State Generation’s Craig unit in northwestern Colorado. Weld County on the Eastern Plains has benefited from the fossil fuel energy boom from fracking in the Denver-Julesburg petroleum basin. 

The Colorado Solar and Storage Association report underlines how Weld and other Eastern Plains counties have also benefited from growth in renewables, with construction and maintenance jobs paying more than other fields and potential growth in construction of needed transmission lines as well. 

The report details: 

• The 7,836 clean energy jobs statewide creates $3.5 billion in direct economic impact on Colorado, $1.6 billion in indirect impact, and another $1.2 billion in what researchers call “induced impact.” 
• Clean energy growth, despite loss of many subsidies and support from a federal administration favoring fossil fuels, could add 3,594 jobs statewide in the next decade, with 961 of those jobs in Eastern Plains counties.
• The Eastern Plains counties are now home to 74 clean energy generators, with 6,367 MW of renewables added since 2010, compared to 475 MW added by traditional generation.

The report compiles economic activity in  21 Eastern Plains counties, including Baca, Bent, Cheyenne, Crowley, El Paso, Elbert, Huerfano, Kiowa, Kit Carson, Las Animas, Lincoln, Logan, Morgan, Otero, Phillips, Prowers, Pueblo, Sedgwick, Washington, Weld and Yuma.