Colorado Right to Purchase and Sell Natural Gas for Cooking or Heating in Homes and Businesses Amendment (2026)
| Colorado Initiative 117 | |
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| Topic Constitutional rights and Utility policy |
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| Status Cleared for signature gathering |
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| Type Initiated constitutional amendment |
Origin |
The Colorado Right to Purchase and Sell Natural Gas for Cooking or Heating in Homes and Businesses Amendment may appear on the ballot in Colorado as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 3, 2026.
The amendment would add a new section to Article XVIII of the Colorado Constitution that would grant consumers the right to purchase natural gas for cooking or heating in homes or businesses, and for distributors and utilities to sell natural gas to consumers.[1]
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title for the amendment is as follows:[1]
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Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado Constitution creating new law granting the right for consumers to purchase natural gas for cooking or heating in homes or businesses and for distributors and utilities to sell natural gas to consumers?[2] |
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Full text
The full text is available here.
Path to the ballot
The state process
In Colorado, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated constitutional amendment for the ballot is equal to 5 percent of the total number of votes cast for the office of Colorado secretary of state in the preceding general election. For initiated constitutional amendments, signature gathering must be distributed to include signatures equal to 2 percent of the registered voters who live in each of the state's 35 senate districts.
State law provides that petitioners have six months to collect signatures after the ballot language and title are finalized. State statutes require a completed signature petition to be filed three months and three weeks before the election at which the measure would appear on the ballot. The Constitution, however, states that the petition must be filed three months before the election at which the measure would appear. The secretary of state generally lists a date that is three months before the election as the filing deadline.
Constitutional amendments in Colorado require a 55% supermajority vote to be ratified and added to the state constitution. This requirement was added by Amendment 71 of 2016.
The requirements to get an initiated constitutional amendment certified for the 2026 ballot:
The secretary of state is responsible for signature verification. Verification is conducted through a review of petitions regarding correct form and then a 5 percent random sampling verification. If the sampling projects between 90 percent and 110 percent of required valid signatures, a full check of all signatures is required. If the sampling projects more than 110 percent of the required signatures, the initiative is certified. If less than 90 percent, the initiative fails.
Details about this initiative
The following is the timeline of the initiative:[3]
- December 5, 2025: The initiative was filed by Michael Fields and Steven Ward.
- January 23, 2026: The initiative was cleared for signature gathering, with signatures due by June 25, 2026.
See also
View other measures certified for the 2026 ballot across the U.S. and in Colorado.
Explore Colorado's ballot measure history, including citizen-initiated ballot measures.
Understand how measures are placed on the ballot and the rules that apply.
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Colorado Secretary of State, "Results for Proposed Initiative #177," accessed January 26, 2026
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "2025-2026 Initiative Filings, Agendas & Results," accessed December 12, 2025
