While nuclear power posts the strongest reliability numbers of any generating source, new construction remains the most expensive option on a per-megawatt-hour basis, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's levelized cost analysis for the Annual Energy Outlook 2025.

For generation resources projected to enter service in 2030, EIA calculates a simple average levelized cost of electricity for advanced nuclear at $81.45 per megawatt-hour, the highest figure among the technologies EIA tracks. On a capacity-weighted basis, the figure comes in lower, at $67.09 per megawatt-hour, reflecting where new nuclear capacity is expected to be built.

By comparison, EIA's simple average LCOE for natural gas combined-cycle plants is $64.55 per megawatt-hour, for onshore wind $31.86 per megawatt-hour, and for solar photovoltaic $29.58 per megawatt-hour, though those renewable figures include federal tax credits available under current law. Combined-cycle gas paired with carbon capture comes in at $48.78 per megawatt-hour.

EIA's methodology recovers these levelized costs over a 30-year period using a 6.65 percent after-tax weighted average cost of capital for plants reaching commercial operation in 2030. The agency cautions that levelized cost comparisons alone can be misleading, since they do not capture the value each technology provides to grid reliability, an area where nuclear's high capacity factor and dispatchable output score well against weather-dependent renewables.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration -- https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/aeo/electricity_generation/pdf/AEO2025_LCOE_report.pdf