Colorado · Nonprofit
COLORADO ENERGY AND WATER INSTITUTE
COLORADO ENERGY AND WATER INSTITUTE (Colorado) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $430,000 to it, the largest being UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION ($175,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $889k
- Funders on record
- 5
- Grants received
- $430k
- Net assets
- $256k
What Colorado Energy and Water Institute does
Mission
The Colorado Energy and Water Institute (dba the institute for western energy (the organization) is established exclusively for charitable and educational purposes within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code. The organization is formed to bring together a diverse community of north american industry, policy, nonprofit and academic leaders in intentionally intimate settings to engage in meaningful conversations about north america's energy and water future; and to educate individuals about issues concerning energy and water and provide resources to challenges facing the future of energy and water. The organization provides a forum to engage in independent, nonpartisan research, discussion, and collaboration on public policy matters and initiatives concerning energy and water. The organization may engage in other activities as allowed under section 501(c)(3), which are related to or further its primary purpose.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Western power players (wpp) is the organization's flagship convening program that brings together a diverse community of energy industry stakeholders including utilities, developers, advocacy organizations, labor unions, government agencies, energy buyers, academic institutions, and consulting firms. In 2025, the organization hosted wpp vii and viii, which focused on western regional market development, transmission planning, and energy.
$365,951 spent$295,167 earned by the program59% of program spendingDuring 2025, the organization focused on building upon the foundational elements of the western energy caucus, including recruiting participants and hosting three workshops throughout the year. The western energy caucus is funded entirely through contributions and grants and does not generate program service revenue.
$254,885 spent41% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $620,836.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $146k to $410k (+181%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2021 11% · 2022 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
64% of COLORADO ENERGY AND WATER INSTITUTE’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 6 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Board chair
Chris Hansen
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2021 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income fell $20k → $10k.
From the IRS filings of COLORADO ENERGY AND WATER INSTITUTE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
COLORADO ENERGY AND WATER INSTITUTE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 41% of grant income and the top three 92%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
81% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund COLORADO ENERGY AND WATER INSTITUTE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2021 100% · 2022 53% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Where its funders are
COLORADO ENERGY AND WATER INSTITUTE draws 79% of its grant income from funders outside Colorado, across 3 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
COLORADO ENERGY AND WATER INSTITUTE has grown faster than three-quarters of the 2,433 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,433 environment nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like COLORADO ENERGY AND WATER INSTITUTE
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Colorado
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
69% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for COLORADO ENERGY AND WATER INSTITUTE: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds COLORADO ENERGY AND WATER INSTITUTE?
- COLORADO ENERGY AND WATER INSTITUTE (Colorado) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $430,000 to it, the largest being UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION ($175,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does COLORADO ENERGY AND WATER INSTITUTE have?
- IRS filings report 5 organizations giving $430,000 in grants to COLORADO ENERGY AND WATER INSTITUTE, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of COLORADO ENERGY AND WATER INSTITUTE?
- UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $175,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like COLORADO ENERGY AND WATER INSTITUTE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Colorado. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Colorado Energy and Water Institute →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2020–2025), and the filings of 5 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing