Cities: Skylines 2 – How to Borrow/Import Electricity

by Fernando Diaz / Articles, Cities: Skylines 2 / 22 Aug 2023

What’s the Big Deal with Electricity??

First things first, your city’s gotta have power. Without it you’re looking at a ghost town… Buildings need juice to run, and your citizens are gonna start dipping out if they’re left in the dark for too long. And businesses? Forget about it. No power equals no productivity, which means they’re gonna be closing up shop faster than you can say “blackout.”

Powering Up: The Basics

Alright, so you’ve got a whole smorgasbord of power plants to choose from. On the green side of things, we’re talking Wind Turbines, Solar Power Plants, Geothermal Power Plants, and Hydro-electric Power Plants. They’re all eco-friendly and cool, but they can be a bit on the pricey side.

Then you’ve got the old school, dirty power with Coal Power Plants and Gas Power Plants. Not the best for Mother Nature but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do…

And for the high rollers, there’s the Nuclear Power Plant. It’s like the Beyoncé of power plants – expensive, but it brings the house down with the amount of electricity it produces.

Borrowing Electricity: Step by Step

Find the Power Lines: At the start of the game, scope out the power lines coming in from other cities.

Drop a Transformer Station: Grab a Transformer Station from your toolbox and plunk it down near those power lines. You can connect it right away or put it somewhere else – totally your call.

Connect the Dots: Use power lines to link up the Transformer Station to the power lines from the other city.

Bring the Power Home: Now, it’s time to connect the Transformer Station to your city’s roads. Grab some electric cables and drag them from the Transformer Station to your roads. But heads up – highways are a no-go for this. They don’t have the setup for underground power lines, so stick to the regular roads.

Check the Connection: Look for a white line showing up, which means you’ve got a connection. If everything looks good and there’s no error messages popping up, congrats! You’ve just brought power to the people!

Trading Power: The Lowdown

So, maybe you’re producing more power than you need. Cool, you can sell that excess juice to other cities and make some cash. But if you’re running low, the city will automatically buy what you need, as long as you’re connected to those outside power lines. Just keep in mind, buying power ain’t cheap, and it can spike your expenses.

Generating Your Own Power

Now, while borrowing and trading power is cool and all, the real play is to produce your own power. Set up some power plants, keep an eye on your consumption, and you’ll be riding smooth. And remember, the weather’s gonna mess with your power needs. Hot or cold, you’ll be using more juice. So plan ahead and maybe invest in some battery stations to keep things stable.

Keep an Eye on the Demand

Remember, as your city grows and the weather changes, your power needs will fluctuate. Hot or cold weather means cranking up the AC or heater, which chews through electricity. When the weather’s chill, your power use will cool down too.

Fernando Diaz

Fernando is doing what he always did, sharing his honest opinions about games whenever he can. The difference is now he is writing and not talking about it.
View all posts