The price of thermal coal (USA) is averaging around $2.26/million btu [1]; the average heat rate (inverse of efficiency) of coal plants is 10,414 btu/kWh electr

The price of thermal coal (USA) is averaging around $2.26/million btu [1]; the average heat rate (inverse of efficiency) of coal plants is 10,414 btu/kWh electricity [2]. So the fuel component of cost is about 2.35 cents/kWh, or for a 500 MWe plant with 73.6% capacity factor [3], about $76 million/year. There's also substantial capital costs. According to [4] (table 3.1 p. 19 [5]), representative costs for a new coal plant would be around $650 million for 500 MWe, and a total (levelized) cost of around 4.8 c/kWh. This is from a slightly lower coal price ($1.50/MMBtu). [1] http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/epm_sum.html http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/epm_sum.html [2] http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/epat5p3.html http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/epat5p3.html [3] http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/epata6.html http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/epata6.html [4] http://web.mit.edu/coal/ http://web.mit.edu/coal/ [5] http://i.imgur.com/eJlUL.png http://i.imgur.com/eJlUL.png