We compare three technologies that produce electricity in the United States—wind, solar, and combined cycle gas turbines (CCGTs). We use the 2016 electric utility database compiled by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That database has the advantage of being based on a census of U.S. power plants rather than sampling, and also excluding any subsidies received by the power plants…

When the net emissions from switching away from coal are considered, the net cost of saving each ton of emissions avoided is $1.27 for a switch from coal to wind, -$44.11 (a net cost increase) for a switch from coal to solar, and a savings of $50.72 for a switch from coal to CCGTs. The differentials between the savings from a switch to wind or solar and a switch to CCGTs is a measure of the “dead weight economic loss involved in switching from coal to either form of “renewables,” instead of switching from coal to CCGTs.