Amendment 82: Do Coloradans need a constitutional right to natural gas?

Supporters of Amendment 82 say the State of Colorado and local governments have been passing laws limiting the use of natural gas for years, but the final straw was the Public Utilities Commission's new Clean Heat Plan.

The plan requires utilities like Xcel to cut natural gas emissions by 41% in the next ten years and to eliminate them altogether by 2050.

Amendment 82 would put the Clean Heat Plan on ice. It would create a constitutional right for consumers to purchase natural gas for cooking and heating and for distributors and utilities to sell natural gas to homes and businesses.

Most Coloradans use natural gas to heat their homes, in part because it's cheaper than electricity. The National Energy Assistance Directors Association says homeowners with electric heating will spend an estimated $1,249 this winter, while those with gas heating will spend $726.

Supporters of Amendment 82 say that if the measure fails, energy bills will climb higher still. 

The Colorado Energy Office told the Public Utilities Commission that 600,000 homes would need to be converted from gas to fully electric to meet the new Clean Heat Plan's 41% emission reduction goal. The National Home Builders Association says it costs $28,491 on average to transition a home in Denver to fully electric.

Supporters also note that natural gas is the main fuel used to power electricity and is the most reliable backup to renewables.

But opponents say, whether someone likes natural gas or not, Amendment 82 is a bad idea.

They say it would jeopardize environmental regulations and could increase Coloradans' energy costs. They say companies could use their new constitutional right to argue against safety inspections, for example, or pollution limits, and could even use it to make consumers pay for things like new pipelines or hookups for data centers.

But supporters note Amendment 82 applies to the use and sale of natural gas only, not production.

And they say the government puts all kinds of guardrails around constitutional rights, pointing to restrictions around what qualifies as free speech and restrictions on who can buy guns.

Supporters say they embedded the natural gas rights in the constitution to prevent the legislature from reversing them.

But opponents say that means the legislature can't fix things if they go awry.

Because Amendment 82 is constitutional, it needs 55% of the vote to pass instead of a simple majority.

If it passes, it would be a first in the country and would likely end up in the courts.

The conservative advocacy group Advance Colorado put Amendment 82 on the ballot along with seven other measures.