Amendment 82 trails as voters weigh gas rights

Denver-area voters saw a measure on their ballots Tuesday asking whether to write natural gas use into the Colorado Constitution. Amendment 82 would protect the right to use and sell natural gas in the state. It would also preserve the ability of oil and gas companies and utilities such as Xcel Energy to sell gas in Colorado.

With returns tallied at 7:40 p.m. Tuesday, 54% of voters opposed the amendment and 46% supported it. A Colorado constitutional amendment needs 55% of the vote to pass. Supporters argued that state Democratic leaders have used regulations to chip away at people's choice to use natural gas, and said those rules would push homeowners toward electric ranges and heaters instead of gas, which costs less.

Kit Pfeiffer, president of Energy Freedom Alliance of the Rockies, a political committee formed to back Amendment 82, pointed to studies showing household utility bills would rise by an average of $1,100 a year if natural gas were banned. Pfeiffer also said gas is a reliable energy source and will matter to Colorado's energy mix as demand grows.

Advance Colorado, a conservative dark money organization, backed Amendment 82 as part of a slate of ballot measures. The opposition runs from environmentalists and medical professionals to a number of city and county governments.

Colorado is moving away from natural gas for heating and cooking in homes and commercial buildings as part of its plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Burning natural gas releases nitrogen oxides, which combine with volatile organic compounds in high heat to form ground-level ozone. That pollution contributes to climate change and affects human health.

No government body in Colorado has banned gas stoves or furnaces in homes. Colorado and Denver have set green-building rules for large commercial buildings that steer them away from natural gas. The state also pushes homebuilders to construct homes without natural gas and offers incentives for heat pumps or electric water heaters.