ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the current economics of coal and nuclear plants as sources of base load electric generation in the United States. It discusses the methodology used in this study to estimate the cost of electricity from coal and nuclear plants. The levelized charge provides a useful index of the lifetime economics of these options. The option with the lowest levelized cost minimizes the discounted present value of costs for any specified level of generation. The equation for plant capital cost is based on data for 295 coal units built from 1965 to 1983. In addition to the plant capital cost people made use of two other equations in estimating capital costs for coal units. The determination of levelized costs also requires people to estimate fuel costs. The historic costs of money used in this analysis reflect those typical of a utility with a double-A debt rating.
