Sustainability now: Rethinking energy cost

Nov 20, 2025

Karl Hausker, a Senior Fellow at the World Resources Institute’s Polsky Center, dives deep into the nuanced world of electricity costs and decarbonization. He explains the often-misunderstood levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) and highlights its limitations when comparing different power sources. Hausker emphasizes the necessity of clean firm resources alongside renewables for reliable energy. He also discusses the role of companies in managing scope 2 emissions and critiques misleading public comparisons of LCOE, calling for better metrics to guide energy policy.

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ANECDOTE

Three Decades In Energy Policy

Karl Hausker recapped a 30-year career across Capitol Hill, EPA, consulting, and WRI work on power sector policy.
He uses that experience to analyze electricity markets and the social cost of carbon.

INSIGHT

LCOE Is An Average, Not A Full Value Measure

LCOE estimates average lifetime cost per MWh by dividing discounted costs by discounted output.
Karl Hausker warns this misses that different megawatt hours deliver different grid value.

ADVICE

Use LCOE Only For Like-For-Like Comparisons

Use LCOE to track a single technology's cost and performance over time, not to compare dissimilar technologies.
Avoid direct cross-technology LCOE comparisons when technologies deliver different grid services.

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The levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) is a widely-cited metric used to compare the cost of energy from different power sources—but it’s often misunderstood and misused. This week, host Heather Horn is joined by Karl Hausker, Senior Fellow at the World Resources Institute’s Polsky Center for the Global Energy Transition, to cover what LCOE really measures, why it’s not the full story, and how it fits into the broader effort to decarbonize the power sector. Together, they explore what companies and regulators should consider when evaluating clean energy investments and transition plans.

In this episode, we discuss:

5:23 – What LCOE measures—and what it misses
11:29 – Why LCOE shouldn’t drive policy decisions
25:20 – Implications for companies and scope 2 emissions
31:41 – The future energy mix

As referenced in this episode, explore Karl Hausker’s companion slides for more information.

At the time of recording, the GHG Protocol exposure drafts on scope 2 had not yet been released. Check out GHG Protocol announces Scope 2 Public Consultation for more information.

Looking for more on GHG and sustainability reporting?

About our guest

Dr. Karl Hausker is a Senior Fellow in the WRI Polsky Center for the Global Energy Transition. He leads analysis and modeling of climate mitigation, electricity market design, and the social cost of carbon. He testifies before Congress, lectures widely on deep decarbonization, and served as an expert reviewer for Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

About our host

Heather Horn is the PwC National Office Sustainability & Thought Leader, responsible for developing our communications strategy and conveying firm positions on accounting, financial reporting, and sustainability matters. In addition, she is part of PwC’s global sustainability leadership team, developing interpretive guidance and consulting with companies as they transition from voluntary to mandatory sustainability reporting. She is also the engaging host of PwC’s accounting and reporting weekly podcast and quarterly webcast series.

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