Figure 14-8. Energy price rise relative to general prices. The difficulty, then, is to estimate the differential price changes of the various power plants being compared. There are many such estimates available in the literature for current and new technology power plants, and this study has used a composite of such estimates to compile ranges of likely costs for power plants other than SPS. For the SPS, sufficient analyses have not been completed to date to quantify any components of differential price inflation beyond those effects of general price changes. Whatever these components may turn out to be (they are currently under study), they will almost surely be less than those that affect the terrestrial systems which rely on depletable fuel resources. Therefore, while it may be argued that certain factors might cause the capital and operating costs of SPS to rise relative to general prices, the current results of this study are based on the assumption that SPS prices will rise at a rate equal to, but no greater than, general price inflation. As mentioned elsewhere, this economic analysis assumes substantial involvement of the private utility industry in the SPS program and that a large portion of the capital funds will be supplied from private sources. For
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