Right now, there is no price advantage, but there IS an efficiency advantage. As mass production price advantages kick in and fuel prices continue to rise, breakeven will be reached and passed (a typical automobile is FAR more complex than a microturbine, yet costs much less--why?? Mass production).
Let's face it, most people are lazy. Most don't even change their own spark plugs in the car, would most maintain a power plant?
Microturbines require very little maintenance (the biggest is changing an air filter). Those that can do their own maintenance will do so, the rest will have someone come in and do a service call--just as is necessary with gas central heating systems today. How many people do you know who maintain their own central heating/AC systems??
These are downsides that I would bet bring the reliability of these little power generators down to the same level as a national grid with central power stations with more personal hassle."
Oh, PLEASE. How much unreliabilty is involved with having a propane truck drop by a few times a year and refill the tank (as they do for me now, to maintain my BACKUP GAS HEAT, since here in the Puget Sound area, GRID-SUPPLIED electricity is quite unreliable in winter due to failure of the electrical utilites to properly maintain their transmission lines by trimming the damned trees or putting the lines underground)?? Pipelines are another question--to absolutely assure reliability, they would need complete backup power (100% reliable) for their pumping stations--which is NOT exactly rocket science.
Major pipelines do blowup, pumping stations do blow up. A pipeline outage with everybody making their own electricity from natural gas would be much more serious than the blackout that just occurred. It could be weeks before full service is restored depending on what failed, if there are spares, or if a new installation is required. The cost of installing more high capacity long haul pipelines would cause the cost of natural gas to rise even more than it already has.
With regard to efficiency, I agree that a micro turbine would be more efficient than a coal plant. But cost to produce and deliver the power is the bottom line. The micro turbine would have the advantage of no delivery cost, but fuel will eat your lunch.
And propane or LNG delivery can be interrupted too. If there is no supply at the tank farm, the truck can't deliver it. I agree it could be rare, but then again, major blackouts are rare too.
To sum it up, I'm not against a microturbine, I'd even like to have one myself. But as the answer to our nation's energy cost and relibility, I think it will end up costing more to operate than what we already have and will not be any more reliable on the whole.