Colorado is second in the nation for hail insurance claims, and new data shows just how much hail is impacting insurance premiums for homeowners.

The Colorado Division of Insurance calculated average premiums for 11 counties across the state based on data from 20 insurers representing 80% of the market. It found wildfire accounts for between 1% and 25% of premiums while hail accounts for 26% and 54% of premiums, even in areas that don’t see a lot of hail.

The Division of Insurance says insurers are spreading hail risk across the state but only targeting high risk areas when pricing wildfire risk.

Last year, state lawmakers considered a bill that would have assessed a fee on all homeowners policies statewide to fund a grant program for hail-fortified roofs. Coloradans could apply for money to help offset the cost of the roofs. The bill failed.

Lawmakers are now working on a new bill to help bring hail fortified roofs to scale in Colorado, but it’s unclear how they will fund it.

Carole Walker, Executive Director of the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association, says other states have used taxes from premiums but, in Colorado, those taxes go into the general fund, which is already strained, and fees or surcharges will only get passed on to policyholders.

“We all agree that a grant mitigation program for hail impact resistant roofs — get people to get those roofs on, help bring down premiums — but then how do we pay for those grants? That becomes the question that we can’t quite figure out.”

Gov. Jared Polis supported the bill that would have assessed a fee on policyholders but, he says, he’s open to other funding mechanisms too.

“It’s not an entire solution on its own — I’d love to see other pieces to it that can reduce homeowners insurance — but this piece of when somebody’s making the decision about what kind of roof they replace their roof with when it’s damaged? Over the next decade or two we’ve got to get to place — especially in the Front Range — where more people have hail resistant roofs and that will reduce rates for everybody,” Polis said.

According to Insurify, Colorado has the fourth most expensive homeowners’ insurance in the country with an average premium of $6,630. That’s an 11% increase over last year.

The Division of Insurance says hail fortified roofs could save Coloradans between $82 and $387 a year while wildfire mitigation would save between $3 and $25.

The governor’s office and the state’s Division of Insurance released the following data which shows the impact of current hail claims on insurance premiums in Colorado.

Colorado has revoked the license of real estate agent Paul Guthrie and fined him $450,000 but says he will have to pay only 1% of that if he promises to never sell properties again.

Guthrie, who previously owned Investor’s Realty in Denver, was a real estate agent and property manager. Online complaints about his company repeatedly accuse it of running off with rents.

The Colorado Real Estate Commission investigated 13 allegations against Guthrie. On Jan. 28, it reached a stipulation agreement with Guthrie in which he acknowledged commingling funds, diverting his clients’ money, being incompetent and not holding clients’ funds.

Guthrie surrendered his license that day and agreed to a fine of $448,500, with $445,050 of that set aside and only charged to Guthrie if he seeks a real estate license in the future.

“Fines are calculated by the number of violations,” Real Estate Commission spokesman David Donnelly told BusinessDen. “The commission does not have the legal authority to issue restitution, so the amount of any fines imposed … is not correlated with any damages made to consumers.”

Donnelly said that setting aside fines is a concession the commission makes to resolve a disciplinary matter without litigation in cases where a broker is about to lose a license.

Northern Colorado’s Weld County, one of the fastest growing counties in the state, is looking to evolve their economic diversity in the decades to come. The county, primarily known for its agriculture and oil and gas roots, is now hoping to start moving their economic portfolio toward data centers and artificial intelligence.

The county is partnering with a company named GlobalAI to build the county’s first data center near Windsor.

David Eisenbraun, planning services director for Weld County, told CBS Colorado this first data center is just the beginning of what the county hopes will be a bright future in hosting data and AI facilities. He took CBS Colorado to a property known as the Great Western Industrial Park, previously home to companies like Kodak. However, the property has struggled to retain companies, paving the way for GlobalAI to expand into the space.

“We are in unincorporated Weld County here, right smack dab in the middle of the Town of Windsor and the City of Greeley,” Eisenbraun said.

While there is currently a tenant operating an unrelated business out of a portion of the property, Eisenbraun said GlobalAI has begin the process of trying to obtain some of the space for a future data center. The county has already granted permits for the initial phase of the facility which consists of demolishing the interior of the facility in-part.

“This will be the county’s very first data center,” Eisenbraun said. “Weld County is open for businesses.”

The GlobalAI facility is expected to be an agnostic data center, meaning the computers within the facility will not be storing data for a singular company but rather a multitude.

Eisenbraun said this first project is a starting point for what the county hopes to be a strong dedication to data and AI in the future, diversifying the tax revenue away from just agriculture and oil and gas.

“Weld County has had a strong history with the oil and gas industry, and they are still a great partner of ours. But, as oil and gas has inherent cycles to it with large booms and busts, there is great opportunity for the county to really find a new energy user,” Eisenbraun said.

Eisenbraun said the data centers may not individually create a significant number of jobs. However, they are expected to create a steady flow of cash from taxes.

“They are really much more of a constant when it comes to the economic and fiscal components,” Eisenbraun said. “When they recycle that every three to five years with new technology and those new data racks have to come in, they are repaying or reflushing that tax in there.”

Eisenbraun confirmed the county is looking to preserve their agricultural roots. He said that includes working to make sure data centers, which are known for having large footprints, do not swallow up farming land. He noted that was a major selling point for the former Kodak property, as the infrastructure already existed.

“It is not taking prime egg land. It is not taking farms or ranches out of production to then go and replace technology in there,” Eisenbraun said.

Eisenbraun said Weld County is not only trying to catch up with modern business opportunities, but they are also being proactive in their efforts to do so. He said that includes making sure the county does its part to make sure any future data or artificial intelligence locations are stewards to the land and water.

The GlobalAI facility is reportedly going to not take as much water as many AI facilities require. Eisenbraun said the facility is projected to only use as much was as the average household per year.

“There is not a large water demand on this particular facility, even with future expansions,” Eisenbraun said.

Weld County is not a water provider, therefore it is up to companies looking to invest in data centers in the region to follow water district, local, state and federal guidelines when it comes to their energy and water consumption.