Renewable Energy Remains Cheapest Power Builds as New Gas Plants Get Pricier

Renewable power like solar and onshore wind is the least expensive and quickest power generation source to deploy in the United States, even without government subsidies, Lazard said in a report on Monday.

The cost to build new gas-fired power plants, meanwhile, has hit a 10-year high amidst the country’s record electricity use and growing backlogs for turbines and other equipment needed to construct the plants, Lazard, a global financial services firm, said in its annual Levelized Cost of Energy+ analysis.

Why it Matters

As U.S. electricity use rises from the expansion energy-intensive data centers and the electrification of industries like transportation, many new power plants will need to be built to meet the rising demand after a nearly 20-year lull.

A shift in support of fossil-fired power like coal and gas, over the renewable energy championed by former President Joe Biden, has raised questions about what types of electricity-generating sources will rise to meet the growing demand.

Different power-producing sources have varying implications for the reliability of the electric grid and for climate change.

By the Numbers

The cost to build a utility-scale solar farm ranged from $38 to $78 per megawatt hour, while costs for natural gas combined cycle plants were $48 to $107 per megawatt hour. Smaller-scale community solar and gas peaker plants, meanwhile, were considerably more expensive.

(Reporting by Laila Kearney; Editing by Mark Porter)