If someone wants to make a lot of power for cheap, the answer is geothermal,,Ive been on a rig where the temp downhole was  well above boiling. IIRC, it was around 300*F. It was a very cold winter & when we had to pull the pipe, it stood in the derrick steaming till it dried & was able to warm us up for an hour or so, standing in freezing West Texas weather.
Granted, it wasnt in a place close to a population of any size, but other places are.

Researchers have uncovered the largest geothermal hot spot in the eastern United States. According to a unique collaboration between Google and academic geologists, West Virginia sits atop several hot patches of Earth, some as warm as 200˚C and as shallow as 5 kilometers. If engineers are able to tap the heat, the state could become a producer of green energy for the region.

I've put some time into researching a off grid system for my Mountain property.. All total for a small home and shop the system, both solar and wind would cost me over 18K.. Until alternative energy is on a level playing field with fossil fuels, prices will be high..

 Thats the whole deal there, if an energy is too expensive, instead of researching why, we drop it and go back to the fossil fuels... Then we blame the failure on the energy and of course politicians for trying to make it viable..