This part of the FAQ deals with a database of power plants, their costs, and value, along with personal comments. Also is a description of the various ordinances in the game. However, this section is NOT strategy... that comes later.
Here I list all the power plants alphabetically, their requirements (if any), their costs, their values, and my opinion on their operation and efficiency.
| Name |
Requirements |
Initial Cost |
Monthly Cost |
Power |
Value |
| Coal |
None |
$10,000 |
$250 |
6,000MWh |
24 MWh/$1 |
| The power plant with the best value is also the dirtiest. Its low monthly cost, however, and high value make it perfect for young cities. At the beginning, avoid this one only if you're bound and determined to keep your grass green from start to finish. |
| Hydrogen |
4,000+ high-tech jobs
30,000+ MWh/month demanded |
$100,000 |
$10,000 |
50,000MWh |
5 MWh/$1 |
| By the time you CAN build it, you can probably afford it. It's extremely clean and totally reliable. There are other alternatives, but for its capacity and cleanliness, you can't get a better deal. |
| Natural Gas |
None |
$9,000 |
$400 |
3,000MWh |
7.5MWh/$1 |
| Although cheaper than a coal power plant, it makes far less power. Then again, it's MUCH cleaner, and you can get your people to live just a BIT closer to it. A nice alternative to coal if you're starting out. |
| Nuclear |
85,000+ overall population
25,000+ MWh/month demanded |
$40,000 |
$3,000 |
16,00 MWh |
5.3 MWh/$1 |
| Nuclear power doesn't pollute much, but there's a chance that the plant will meltdown, especially if it catches fire. If it does that, it will make a rather large radius of land radioactive, and you can't do anything with radioactive land for the rest of the game. Although that's a high risk, if your power plant is well covered with fire stations, you'll be fine. |
| Oil |
None |
$17,000 |
$600 |
7,000 MWh |
11.7 MWh/$1 |
| The second-best deal on the market has a high initial price tag. It's cleaner than coal, so you may want to trash your coal plant in favor of oil once you're making a large profit. |
| Solar |
None |
$30,000 |
$1,000 |
5,000 MWh |
5 MWh/$1 |
| Cleaner than your grandma's kitchen, this plant is a reward for having rich people inhabiting your town. People have little problem living next to it. The problem is that it's darn expensive for clean power, and one little solar plant doesn't produce nearly enough power to keep a large town satisfied. Only build these if you're simply expanding your power, not replacing it. |
| Waste to Energy |
None |
$25,000 |
$1,000 |
5,00 MWh |
5 MWh/$1 |
| A cheaper version of the solar power plant, this type is available from the start. However, its initial cost is a little high for young cities, and the pollution it generates is ridiculous. It reduces garbage, but don't look here for a permanent waste OR permanent energy solution. |
| Windmill |
None |
$500 |
$50 |
200 MWh |
4 MWh/$1 |
| The cleanest form of power is the worst deal. However, windmill plants are excellent to use if you need temporary bursts of power when you don't have the money or desire to get a full-sized plant. Unless you want to lose a bunch on money, don't rely fully on these. |
This is a list of all the ordinances in the game. To access them, click your budget tab, then expand it, and click the eye beside the City Ordinances line. They are listed here in the same order as they are on the budget screen.
The only ordinance that will actually make money instead of costing it, this will put a guaranteed $100 in your bank every month. The problem is that it's not scalable, and once you hit several thousand people, $100 per month isn't going to be worth much. Still, young cities seriously benefit from it, and it leads to getting a casino business deal.
A small amount of money is taken from the treasury to teach people how to perform CPR. This increases the lifespan of all sims, and it improves their overall attitude. I recommend it once your city gets going smoothly to assist your health clinics and hospitals, but not from the outset of the game.
| Water Conservation Program |
Money is spent to reduce the amount of water all buildings use. Residents don't have a problem with it, but industries don't like it one bit. This reduces the industry demand, but seriously increases your water capacity. It comes with a hefty price tag, though.
Similar to the water conservation program, the paper waste reduction program cuts down garbage and ticks off industries in the process. Again, don't enact it if there are industrial zones empty. Use it to support your sanitation department.
Places are set up throughout the city to give free medical treatment to your poorer sims. City-wide health greatly increases at a monetary expense. I don't like this one, because I prefer to have rich people in my cities who can afford to go to hospitals. If you have a tiny town, though, you may want to consider it.
This program installs smoke detectors on all buildings. This cuts down on city-wide flammability, assisting your fire departments. The only downfall is the cost, which isn't much at all. I recommend you enact this one as soon as you can.
| Neighborhood Watch Program |
Your vigil sims will assist the cops in cutting crime in residential zones. Not too bad of an option, considering its relatively low cost, but I don't normally use it.
| Tourism Promotion Program |
This one advertises your city to other cities. More people will come to check out your town, which adds to your commercial sectors' coffers. This increases your commercial demand, but can congest your roads when people come to visit. Also, you should have some good attractions (landmarks or rewards) in your town before enacting this, or it won't work as well.
The city funds schools for uniforms and other sports equipment. This cuts crime because the kids have something to do in the afternoons aside from holding up 7-Elevens, and it increases schools' effectiveness because the kids want to work hard and maintain good grades to keep their athletic eligibility. This comes at a mediocre cost to your budget.
Reduces city-wide power usage, so you get more out of your power plants. However, this ticks everyone off--especially industries--and comes with a nasty price tag.
| Carpool Incentive Program |
This funds little things like carpool lanes and other benefits for sims who decide to carpool to and from work. This cuts down on road congestion, which also cuts down on air pollution, especially around main streets. This isn't too bad of an alternative to busses, though both can be used in tandem for best effectiveness.
The city creates and maintains mini-busses to help people get to mass transit stations like bus stops and train stations. This gives people more of an incentive to ride mass transit, which reduces traffic and air pollution along the busiest streets. However, you'll need SOME mass transit in place for this to work; don't bother enacting the ordinance if you have no bus stops or train stations.
This money is used to set standards for air pollution. This will cut down air pollution from industries pretty well, but it will tick off all dirty and manufacturing industries. Of course, if your aim is to have a clean, high-tech city, go for it. The cost is rather steep, but the payoff is worth it once you can afford it.
All young sims have to be in their homes in the late evening. This highly cuts crime, but it ticks off every kid in the city. Be careful; it's a good assist for the police, but you'll have issues with city morale.
| Automobile Emission Reduction Act |
That's a mouthful, isn't it? Enacting this will set standards for cars so their pollution is reduced. This cuts air pollution to a pretty large degree, especially around busy streets. There are no negatives aside from the cost, although this won't cut down on traffic like other ordinances will. Still, I enact it once I can afford to.
This reduces pollution and generally improves city aura and beauty. In SimCity 3000, this also reduced road costs by $1 per section, which REALLY added up. Sadly, that discount is no longer a part of it.
For a fee, you can declare your city as being nuclear free. This eliminates the option to build nuclear power plants and toxic waste dumps, but the environmentalist will be happy, and aura will improve city-wide. This ticks off the dirty industries, but not to a very large degree.
This gives assist money to libraries and schools, which improves education. It does not impact museums.
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