Even the smallest village needs electricity in SimCity; otherwise zones just sit there and don't develop. That's okay: you have a wide variety of options for power plants, and the transmission lines to carry the power.
Power plants generate electricity. What type of plant you can use depends on the size of your city; whether you plan to export power; and how much pollution you or your sims can stomach.
Wind power is an excellent starter for your city: It's clean and cheap, and you don't even need high ground to catch the wind (unlike in SimCity 3000). However, the maintenance costs can add up. When you find yourself using at least six windmills to power your city, it's time to switch to gas power.
You might want to forgo coal and oil plants unless you plan to export power to neighboring cities for extra cash. Yes, they are cheap to maintain, but spew dirty air like nobody's business. Put those on the edges of your cities away from residences and farms. Do not use them if your city is small.
If a power plant catches fire, put it out at once! If a power plant is underfunded, get the funding even if you have to take out a loan. An underfunded or burning plant explodes … BIG!
There are other power plant options, like nuclear, solar, and hydrogen fusion; but they appear as rewards and are not available for cities under 20,000 sims. Waste-to-energy is dealt with in the Garbage page, but you shouldn't even consider this for a starter city.
Power lines connect your city to a plant, or connect a plant to other cities to export electricity.
Lines have two parts: the cables and the towers that hold them above ground. The towers are a good thing, because you can lay cables over forests without tearing down trees under the lines.
Power plants, lines and powered buildings radiate electricity in a four-tile radius. This relieves you of the need to wire inside a city. Putting a windmill next to a small village will power the village without any lines.
When you build a road through a tower, the tower will disappear. Make sure you rewire the gap.
| Item | Initial | Monthly | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Line | §2/tile §15/tower | §0.10 | |
| Wind | §500 | §50 | Cheap and clean, but you'll need a lot of them. |
| Gas | §9000 | §400 | Not very dirty but dear to maintain. |
| Coal | §10000 | §250 | Lots of power, cheap to keep, but the dirtiest. |
| Oil | §17000 | §600 | The most power, the most expensive, and very dirty. |