Value chain · CLM-0266
In plain terms
The report itself warns that its main headline cost figures leave out the wider costs of running a reliable power grid, things like power lines, backup capacity, and keeping the system balanced. It also says clearly that it is not trying to predict what power will cost in future years, and that it should not be read as the full cost of supplying electricity to a system, only the cost of building and running one project. This warning matters directly for any comparison against a claim about future, for example 2050, power costs, or against a source that assumes the wider grid costs are already included.
The claim as recorded
Lazard states explicitly that its LCOE+ analysis (i) excludes system- and grid-level costs such as transmission, distribution, ancillary services and reliability/capacity-reserve-margin compliance from its base LCOE figures, (ii) is not a forecasting tool and does not project future technology costs, and (iii) is not a total-system-cost or planning analysis.
Scope and limits
This claim is a scope/caveat statement, not a cost figure. It should be attached to every other Lazard claim in this file (CLM-0263, CLM-0264, CLM-0265) as a standing limitation, and used to check whether the NASA study's terrestrial comparator figure is itself scoped the same way, base generation cost only, or is claiming to already include system/firming costs. If the latter, it is not comparable to Lazard's base LCOE v19.0 figures without first adding a firming-cost adjustment such as CLM-0264.
What it assumes
No assumptions are recorded against this claim.
Where it comes from
"The LCOE perimeter is not exhaustive and excludes many components and costs required to maintain grid stability and ensure reliable power to end users." "Does Not Say... What total system costs are for 1 MWh of incremental electricity" and "What technology costs will be in the future, including emerging technologies."
Related records
- Answers question
- QST-021 not published in this release
Cite this
energyaperture.com/c/clm-0266
CLM-0266, Energy Aperture, as of 2026.
Connected records
Other published records linked to this one. A list, not a judgement.
- Also from SRC-146
- CLM-0263A widely used financial-industry cost report estimates 2026 U.S. power costs, without subsidy, as follows: utility solar 40-98 dollars per...CLM-0265The same report assumes, by default, that a power project is financed 60 percent by debt (at 8 percent interest) and 40 percent by equity...CLM-0300The main international definition of LCOE is the flat price per unit of electricity a power plant would need to be paid, every year of its...CLM-0303A major financial advisory firm's own widely-used LCOE report says plainly that its numbers do not cover intermittency or total system cost.CLM-0312A major financial advisory firm has estimated, using US grid operators' own published figures, what it adds to the cost of wind or solar to...CLM-0470The same financial-industry report separately estimates what it costs to make solar and wind power as reliable as an always-on power plant...CLM-0524Every UK-specific or typical-country cost-of-capital figure found sits well below the 20% rate Frazer-Nash used, even at the top of DESNZ's...