Cities: Skylines 2 introduces a few new features found in other city builders that were missing in the first game. One such feature is the ability to create and use outside connections for water and power. After all, not every town and city has an independent reservoir and power plant.
Players can make use of the new power connection immediately, but they'll need to jump through a few hoops to connect their water and sewage systems, at least on the starting maps of Cities: Skylines 2. Read on to learn how to make these connections and how best to take advantage of them.
How to Connect Power
Every power plant and transformer has a high-voltage connection at the back and a low-voltage connection at the front. The low-voltage connection hooks into the road networks automatically, but players will need to connect the high-voltage lines manually.
Each starting map has a power connection in one of the corners of the buildable area. Players should set down their first power plant in the same corner, which will make it easier to connect it to the outside wires. Once players build more power plants and transformers, they'll need to connect each one with high-voltage wires if they want them to also receive and send power outside of town. Fortunately, if the towers would get in the way or spoil the view, players can build them underground.
Once players have this outside connection, they should see the needle on the "Electricity Trade" meter move. If the city doesn't produce enough electricity for its needs, the needle will move into the orange and red area as the game automatically imports the needed power. Overall, this power will cost more per megawatt than any power plant or wind turbine. If the city produces too much electricity, it'll export the excess, generating money for they city. However, players may still want to reduce their power production if they want to save the most money.
How to Connect Water and Sewage
Unlike power, none of the starting maps of Cities: Skylines 2 begin with an outside water or sewage connection. However, it's possible for map creators to build one into custom maps, and doing so may be appropriate for desert maps. Players can also create their own connections, which is another new feature.
The only problem is that the water and/or sewage connection has to go outside the play area, not just the currently owned area. This means players will have to buy enough map squares to reach the edge, and only then can they create a connection by running water pipes up to the dotted line. Players will know they've managed it when an arrow appears above the pipes. A connection can include water, sewage, or both at once. Of course, the other end of these pipes has to touch the road network for it to work.
The meters to watch for this connection are "Water Trade" and "Sewage Export." Like power, players can export the water they generate but don't need, and they can import water when they don't have enough local pumps and towers. They can also export any sewage they can't dump or treat in-city, but they can't import sewage to make use of local water treatment plants.
Just like with power, an outside connection is a good lifeline in case the city goes over its water availability before the player can react, and it's a good way to make some money from excess production. But also like power, players may want to adjust their water budget down instead of relying on export income.
Cities: Skylines 2 is available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.