Polis signs executive order aimed at lowering gas prices, easing diesel and fuel-blend rules

The governor's office said Coloradans are paying an average of $4.18 per gallon for gasoline and $6.21 per gallon for diesel. In its announcement, the office blamed the high prices on what it called "Trump's war with Iran," saying the conflict was raising oil costs for drivers, farmers, and freight haulers.

The order directs three actions. The Colorado Department of Transportation will issue permits allowing truckers to carry more fuel on state highways, as long as vehicles comply with all safety regulations, with the goal of lowering the cost of delivering gas and diesel. The Colorado Department of Public Safety will not enforce the prohibition on dyed diesel fuel on state highways, including inspections and citations, through Dec. 31, 2026. And the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment will ask the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to waive Reformulated Gas requirements for summer 2027 to increase supply and lower costs.

"Today, I am taking Executive Action to help save Coloradans money at the pump," Polis said in the announcement. "It is far past time for this war to end."

Dyed diesel is a tax-exempt fuel, colored red, normally reserved for off-road equipment such as farm and construction machinery; running it on public highways typically triggers penalties. On Monday, President Trump signed a separate federal order expanding access to dyed diesel nationwide, waiving tax penalties through Dec. 31 and directing the Internal Revenue Service to waive the 24.4-cent-per-gallon federal excise tax on on-highway diesel through the same date, according to The Center Square.

The national average for on-highway diesel was $6.32 per gallon on Monday, down from a record $6.53 on Sept. 21, The Center Square reported, attributing the price surge to global oil market disruptions tied to the Russia-Ukraine and U.S.-Iran conflicts and low domestic inventories. Trump said the waiver would save a typical trucker more than $100 every time they fill up and drive down the cost of goods.

Colorado's farmers and ranchers face some of the steepest pressure from diesel prices, the governor's office said, with the extreme cost of the fuel driving up costs for the producers who put food on Colorado tables. Dyed diesel is the fuel many of those operations already run in off-road equipment; the order's non-enforcement provision means truckers and haulers can also use it on state highways through the end of the year without facing state inspections or citations.

Colorado is not the first state to reach for the dyed-diesel lever. The governors of nine other states, Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Texas, ordered the temporary suspension of state-level penalties for dyed diesel before the president's directive, according to The Center Square. NPR reported that the federal waiver could save truckers money but is not always an option for every operator.

Polis signed the order as gasoline prices sat above $4 a gallon across Colorado, according to the governor's office and FOX31 Denver, which reported the governor temporarily changed environmental and transportation policies to combat high prices. The dyed-diesel non-enforcement runs through Dec. 31, and the reformulated-gasoline request targets next summer's driving season.