The additional cost of producing and/or transmitting electric energy above some previously determined base cost. The cost of the next kilowatt-hour of generated energy, also referred to in the industry as the next unit. Incremental costs change as production increases or decreases, but these changes don’t always occur in a predictable pattern. As an example, incremental costs typically decrease as production rises to comfortable capacity. But once that limit is reached, incremental costs increase because additional costs (construction of new facilities, costs of stressing production facilities, etc.) need to be factored into the cost of the next unit