This paper presents a novel approach to economic dispatch (ED) with nonconvex fuel cost function as combinatorial optimization problems (COP) while most of the conventional researches have been developed as function optimization problems (FOP). One nonconvex fuel cost function can be divided into several convex fuel cost functions, and each convex function can be regarded as a generation type (G-type). In that case, ED with nonconvex fuel cost function can be considered as COP finding the best case among all feasible combinations of G-types. In this paper, a genetic algorithm is applied to solve the COP, and the $lambda$-P table method is used to calculate ED for the fitness function of GA. The $lambda$-P table method is reviewed briefly and the GA procedure for COP is explained in detail. This paper deals with three kinds of ED problems, namely ED considering valve-point effects (EDVP), ED with multiple fuel units (EDMF), and ED with prohibited operating zones (EDPOZ). The proposed method is tested for all three ED problems, and the test results show an improvement in solution cost compared to the results obtained from conventional algorithms.