A coal-fired power plant can produce electricity at a variable cost of 4 cents per kilowatt hour when running at its full capacity of 30 megawatts per hour, 16 cents per kilowatt hour when running at 20 megawatts per hour, and 24 cents per kilowatt hour when running at 10 megawatts per hour. A gas-fired power plant can produce electricity at a variable cost of 12 cents per kilowatt-hour at any capacity from 1 megawatt per hour to its full capacity of 5 megawatts per hour. The cost of constructing a coal-fired plant is $50 million, but it costs only $10 million to build a gas-fired plant.  a. Consider a city that has a peak afternoon demand of 80 megawatts of electricity. If it wants all plants to operate at full capacity, what combination of coal-fired plants and gas-fired plants would minimize construction costs? b. How much will the city spend on building that combination of plants? c. What will the average cost per kilowatt-hour be if you average over all 80 megawatts that are produced by that combination of plants? (Hint: A kilowatt is one thousand watts, while a megawatt is one million watts.) d. What would the average cost per kilowatt-hour be if the city had instead built three coal-fired plants?

ENGR.ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
14th Edition
ISBN:9780190931919
Author:NEWNAN
Publisher:NEWNAN
Chapter1: Making Economics Decisions
Section: Chapter Questions
Problem 1QTC
icon
Related questions
Question

A coal-fired power plant can produce electricity at a variable cost of 4 cents per kilowatt hour when running at its full capacity of 30 megawatts per hour, 16 cents per kilowatt hour when running at 20 megawatts per hour, and 24 cents per kilowatt hour when running at 10 megawatts per hour. A gas-fired power plant can produce electricity at a variable cost of 12 cents per kilowatt-hour at any capacity from 1 megawatt per hour to its full capacity of 5 megawatts per hour. The cost of constructing a coal-fired plant is $50 million, but it costs only $10 million to build a gas-fired plant.  a. Consider a city that has a peak afternoon demand of 80 megawatts of electricity. If it wants all plants to operate at full capacity, what combination of coal-fired plants and gas-fired plants would minimize construction costs? b. How much will the city spend on building that combination of plants? c. What will the average cost per kilowatt-hour be if you average over all 80 megawatts that are produced by that combination of plants? (Hint: A kilowatt is one thousand watts, while a megawatt is one million watts.) d. What would the average cost per kilowatt-hour be if the city had instead built three coal-fired plants?

Expert Solution
trending now

Trending now

This is a popular solution!

steps

Step by step

Solved in 4 steps with 2 images

Blurred answer
Knowledge Booster
Renewable And Exhaustible Natural Resources
Learn more about
Need a deep-dive on the concept behind this application? Look no further. Learn more about this topic, economics and related others by exploring similar questions and additional content below.
Similar questions
  • SEE MORE QUESTIONS
Recommended textbooks for you
ENGR.ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
ENGR.ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
Economics
ISBN:
9780190931919
Author:
NEWNAN
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Principles of Economics (12th Edition)
Principles of Economics (12th Edition)
Economics
ISBN:
9780134078779
Author:
Karl E. Case, Ray C. Fair, Sharon E. Oster
Publisher:
PEARSON
Engineering Economy (17th Edition)
Engineering Economy (17th Edition)
Economics
ISBN:
9780134870069
Author:
William G. Sullivan, Elin M. Wicks, C. Patrick Koelling
Publisher:
PEARSON
Principles of Economics (MindTap Course List)
Principles of Economics (MindTap Course List)
Economics
ISBN:
9781305585126
Author:
N. Gregory Mankiw
Publisher:
Cengage Learning
Managerial Economics: A Problem Solving Approach
Managerial Economics: A Problem Solving Approach
Economics
ISBN:
9781337106665
Author:
Luke M. Froeb, Brian T. McCann, Michael R. Ward, Mike Shor
Publisher:
Cengage Learning
Managerial Economics & Business Strategy (Mcgraw-…
Managerial Economics & Business Strategy (Mcgraw-…
Economics
ISBN:
9781259290619
Author:
Michael Baye, Jeff Prince
Publisher:
McGraw-Hill Education