English: Cost of electricity by source. No subsidies are included in the calculations. The table was in a January 12, 2010 U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) report.

• Total System Levelized Cost (the rightmost column) gives the dollar cost per megawatt-hour that must be charged over time in order to pay for the total cost. Divide by 1000 to get the cost per kilowatt-hour. The easy way to do that is to move the decimal place 3 places to the left.
  
  

• O&M = operation and maintenance.
  
• CC = combined cycle.
  
• CCS = carbon control and sequestration.
  
• PV = photovoltaics.
• GHG = greenhouse gas.
  
  

The table, according to the DOE (emphasis added), "provides the average national levelized costs for the generating technologies represented in the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS) as configured for the Annual Energy Outlook 2010 (AEO2010) reference case. Levelized costs represent the present value of the total cost of building and operating a generating plant over its financial life, converted to equal annual payments and amortized over expected annual generation from an assumed duty cycle. The key factors contributing to levelized costs include the cost of constructing the plant, the time required to construct the plant, the non-fuel costs of operating the plant, the fuel costs, the cost of financing, and the utilization of the plant. The availability of various incentives including state or federal tax credits can also impact these costs. The values shown in the table do not incorporate any such incentives."