Colorado’s economic future and quality of life depend on energy. Meeting future energy needs is not simply a matter of engineering, but a matter of planning with clarity and conviction.

In the metro Denver region, we need Xcel Energy to deliver what’s needed right now and prepare for energy needs just around the corner. They’ve done that with their Just Transition Solicitation and the Updated Base Load Forecast within, which is before the governor’s regulatory body called the Public Utilities Commission (PUC). The PUC should approve it without additional delay.

When economic development professionals compete to have projects select Colorado over other states, ensuring access to reliable, affordable, and innovative energy solutions is essential.

Our leadership in advanced industries, ambition to solve tomorrow’s challenges, and commitment to attracting the best ideas and talent all depend on the strength and readiness of our energy system. If we want a future that lifts communities, grows opportunity, and secures prosperity for the next generation, we have to power it.

System capacity cannot be expanded overnight, and the infrastructure decisions made today will define the limits and the possibilities of the Colorado we leave to those who come next. If forecasts are artificially constrained by the PUC, they do not produce savings or stability, but rather, delay development, drive up costs, and erode confidence among those seeking to invest, grow, create, invent and revolutionize.

Airports know how much electricity it takes to run the operations of today and the expansions of tomorrow. Manufacturing facilities know how much electricity their production requires right now and how much more is required to expand to create more products and more good jobs. Data centers know how much electricity is needed so Coloradans can digitally access the rest of the world without delay.

These current and future customers work with Xcel to carefully plan for how much electricity production is needed now, and how much we need to add to ensure future reliability at reasonable prices. When we need electricity, the switch has to work every single time. Nobody wants rolling blackouts or brownouts on hot or cold days, but that can happen when regulators artificially limit electricity supply.

If the PUC has somehow concluded that it knows better than the economic development experts, Xcel Energy, and the operators of airports, manufacturing facilities, and data centers about how much electricity it takes to run each. Ironically, after insisting for years that everything be electrified, the PUC is delaying the approval of the load expansion required to actually do it. Being authorized to plan for the Updated Base Load Forecast allows costs to be spread over a larger population creating cost efficiencies benefiting consumer rate payers.

We can’t wait. We cannot tell a bottling plant, data center, or home builder to choose Colorado if it will take another 18-24 months or more before we can tell them if the PUC will approve the needed electricity.

Colorado stands at a crossroads, and the decisions before the commission will echo far beyond utility dockets or regulatory calendars. They will shape whether this state remains a magnet for talent, a launchpad for innovation, and a home for those who believe in the possibility of building something better.

But vision alone is not enough, we must match it with the infrastructure that makes growth possible. The future is coming, and Colorado should be ready to power it.

Raymond Gonzales is President of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation (EDC). Wendy Mitchell is President and CEO at Aurora Economic Development Council.