This kind of thing does leave renewables open to attack based on the &quot;subsidy bad&quot; line of thinking.  The whole point of the incentives is to pay a fair price for a superior product that does not cause pollution and health damage.  It is unreasonable to require a superior source of energy to actually be cheaper.  In that sense nuclear&#x2F;solar&#x2F;wind are worth purseing even if they cost more than coal.  The fact that renewables are so competitive is more a testament to how inefficient large fossil fuel power stations are.