(1.6)(Electric) power for the people! Vic 3 electrician handbook

Unlimited power... is not obtainable due to budgetary constriants.

1.5 Local goods update

So after all the nonsense prior to 1.5, Paradox decide to make electricity, service and transportation a local good. Which means it will be produced and consumed in the same state with no way to transfer them out.

Well, HVDC is definitively not a thing in Victoria and the electricity production is realistic local with no unified grid. The depict of electricity as a local good is accurate.

However, the change does make electricity production and consumption more micro-intensive. You have to build power plants on spot of electricity factories that are going to make radio. And also spread out power plants across multiple states. Which lead to lower electricity generation because of lost in throughput bonus.

And you have to control electricity consumption state by state, that can be exhausting if you have 100 or more states in countries like China, India and USA (Achievement pun intended).

Thus electricity become a more essential good from the change in 1.5. And electrification is no longer the "build power plant in one state, supplying electricity to the whole market" kind of staff. Local market price does restrict min-max throughput and limit the upper cap of economy growth.

Electricity consumption - End of the electric grid

Because electricity cannot be exported away, the local market needs to have enough electricity demand to keep those power plants running. Note: by experience without use of subsidy electricity stays above the basic price and has a lower cup of +30%. After electricity price falls to that lower cup then power plants start firing to maintain productivity. And it is rather better to have those power plants subsidized then have them be productive by creating an electricity shortage . Without further ado, here are what can possibly constitute as demand for electricity.
First, electricity demand come from satisfying needs of pops and production.

1. Heating Fulfill heating need, count as 1.5 units of wood through good substitution, meanwhile oil count as 2 units, coal count as 1.5 units and fabric count as 1 unit (Why burn fabric when you can wear it Paradox?). However, pops have a preference of heating with electricity. Electricity have the highest weight over others good and can fully satisfy heating needs alone. (While coal can at max satisfy 80% before have to turn to something else). Think about that as electric heating is safer and create less smoke, also fancier if pops have to add.
   
2. Also Lighting for urban center Sometimes, pops do not burn coal for heating, they burn it for the lighting during combustion. In that case, electricity lighting is safer and create less smoke, also fancier so pops decide they can provide more service with that fancy electric streetlights. Arrive with tier 3 electrical generation, which is the prerequisite to build power plant and produce electricity.
   
3. cutting woods What is better than a saw mill? An electric saw mill, get it right on the bag with tier 3 electrical generation.
   
4. Sewing fabric What is better than a sewing machine? An electric sewing machine, get it right next to the bag with tier 4 electrical generation capacitors (the official vickypedia does update it).
   
5. More booms Tier 4 electrical capacitors enables brine electrolysis in chemical plants, which turn electricity and extra fertilizer into explosive.
   
6. Arcing the steel Tier 4 electrical arc process allows melting metals into steel in bulk quantity with electricity. Tier 5 Arc Wielding does the same things but more precisely, which allows wielding directly on building or steamship.
   
7. Electrifies the railway and motor While these are more labor-saving than improving gross profit margin (check the oil guide for more details), switch to electric railway and motor does save a large quantity of labor from motor factories and railways to power plants Bundled in tier 4 electric railway.
   
8. listen to radio Enabled as an auxiliary production method in tier 4 tech, radio can calm down the always above-the-base-price luxury goods for a bit, before the army and the navy want to listen to radio too.
   
9. Watch movie That's simply infeasible to project a film with coal lighting, have to do it with the fancy electric lights. Unlocked at tier 4 Film of society technology.

Secondly, electricity can also be used for the purpose of labor saving Firing workers of high wage in other industries to the unprofitable power plants, and they are definitely angry about that.

1. Electric fences What is better than a fence? An electric fence, get it right on the bag with tier 3 electrical generation. Barbed Wire is now unlocked by Military Tier 2 Field Works, which means that "you can build an electric fence but not normal fence" is pre 1.6 "history".
   
2. Sewing fabric What is better than a mechanized looms? An automatic power looms, get it right next to the bag with tier 4 electrical generation capacitors. Deja vu? I have seen these two lines somewhere?
   
3. ASB line Enabled by tier 4 conveyors, Ford's significant move to get rich If the government does not forbid ASB line and takes all the oil away for flamethrowers and tanks instead
   
4. Refrigeration Enabled by 3 different techs. The tier 4 pasteurization allows refrigerated storage for ranches, fishery and whaling. The tier 4 electric railway allows refrigerated rail cars for fishery and whaling, the few cases when more labor saving staff is available before the less labor saving one (depends on the order you get it, which electric railway is simply more important than pasteurization). The tier 5 flash freezing allows flash freezing for fishery and whaling, and refrigerated rail cars for ranches without the supposed prerequisite of electric railway yes, you can have refrigerated rail cars without tier 2 railway if you somehow disabled technology spread and cross-tier penalty, thanks Paradox logic.

Unlike oil which you can possibly get away with import the final goods and skip a bunch of army innovations that focus on breaking the trench warfare, if you like turtle and boom then never mind.. Electricity is as a staple good in the late game as Paradox designate it to be so. Since it cannot be traded, there must be somewhere to produce them. Well, there is only one place to generate electricity: power plants.

Electricity generation- Origin of electric grid

As much as people like to have unlimited power, there is at least one thing holding them back: construction. Consider power plants cost the expensive 800 construction per level. The highest level of all normal buildings. Special note: although power plant belongs to urban center in game file. Power plant belongs to bg_power group, that is an independent group for power plant alone and your investment pool won't touch it.

bg_power used to be a subgroup of heavy industry, and heavy industry is a subgroup of manufacturing meaning it can be funded by investment pool under interventionism or laissez-faire. Now it don't.

The sole responsibility of power plant building lied to the government, which suggests that it is either a state-funded enterprise and state owned power plant. Which is far from reality as power plant was mostly originated from private initiate. But the investment sucks at building power plant so this way is fine.

Government can get the money by collecting a consumption tax on electricity to build more power plants making luxury goods as luxury as the name implies. Whatever ways the funding is secured, just build those power plants already! These are the options. (Disregarding ownership and throughput)

Production Methods	Intake	output	total labor use
Hydro	10 motors	50 electricity	5500
Coal	15 motors 30 coal	100 electricity	4900
Oil	20 motors 40 oil	150 electricity	4900

Obviously that not all production methods are available on start, hydro plants are the only option with tier 3 electricity generation. Directly down the line is tier 4 steam turbine unlocks coal plants. Further down the line tier 5 oil turbine unlocks oil plants. Take Serious Caution About What Tier The Production Method is Refer To, That is Profitability On Stake!

Why profitability is important for power plants? Because saddening there is innately little profitability in power plants. Even though Paradox buffs coal and oil plants and makes hydro plants significantly ineffective with patch 1.1. Disregarding ownership and throughput, consider this

Production Methods	Base cost of raw good	Base revenue of good sale	gross margin to labor
Coal Power Plant(Tier 4)	1800	3000	1200/4900
Steel Tooling Workshop(Tier 2)	1600	3200	1600/4500
Bleaching Paper Plants(Tier 2)	1500	3000	1500/4500

And both tooling workshop and paper plants have labor saving which further improve their gross margin to labor . Which means power plants usually on the losing side when raising wages to compete for workers, unable to obtain full employment. And that's bad because you pay for all the construction. Make those construction money count by having power plants at full employment!

And just go a little be further, disregarding ownership and throughput of course

Production Methods	Base cost of raw good	Base revenue of good sale	gross margin to labor
Hydro	600	1500	900/5500
Coal	1800	3000	1200/4900
Oil	2800	4500	1700/4900

Tips to secure employment for power plants

1. The subsidy bailout It's not solving the real problem there. Because the base low profitability of power plants, consistent and high level of subsidy is almost inevitable to keep the power plants in check this way. In this situation is better to let the invisible hand does its thing (or by law you cannot subsidy power plant so bailout is not an option) and instead
   
2. Industry Planning and Dedicated ProvinceLeave those unprofitable industries alone in provinces reserve for them. If there is no highly profitable industry in play, the local wage level is much more controllable.
   
3. Have a large labor pool High workforce ratio from laws, migration attraction and conquering for the labor supply. On the demand side be cautious with labor saving.(Explained further)
   
4. Ensure there is enough profitability for power plants to full hire This part deserve a specific section.

Continue on the well-being of power plants,

• Keep ownership at private owned not public traded Less capitalists to pay salary to the better the profitability, simple to understand. or government run since you're subsidizing anyway
  
• Maintain high electricity price Rather the end than the mean, because of power plant's low profitability, it cannot push electricity price low without the involvement of subsidy. Work toward a stable electricity demand is the better way.
  
• Switch to a better production method Well, better production method is locked by technology of higher tier, it is not the immediate solution but is the honest solution.
  
• Suppress the input good price As shown in the table, all power plants use motor. Which, requires another dedicated section onto the motor-electricity balance.

The motor-electricity balance (side electricity)

So before tier 4 knocks in. The production chain of electricity is pretty simple. The only input power plants need is motor. Then the only input motor industry need is steel. Which is produced in steel mills under either tier 2 Bessemer or tier 3 open hearth process.
Obviously the latter is better because it produce 33% more steel. Which in turns is 25% less level required to produce the same quantity of steel, that translates into 25% less construction and labor usage.
Nonetheless, it is a simple chain, steel turns into motor and then motor turns into electricity. It's direct to increase power plant profitability by expanding the motor industry, which is backed by an increase in steel production through changing to open hearth process, or more steel mils.

After that production chain gets way more complicated with 5 different tier 4 technologies. They are steam turbine, EAP , combustion engine, electric railway and its prerequisite electrical capacitors. Evaluate them one by one

• Electrical capacitors The reason you need electricity so much, electrical sewing machine is so good that you will definitely regret to switch it back if you neglect to build power plants.
  
  
• EAP (electric arc process) Steel mill now produce 30 (25%) more steel at the cost of 10 more iron and 30 electricity compared to open hearth. However, notice that a hydro power plant only produce 50 electricity on base per level. It's labor and construction wise better to build 25 open hearth mills than 20 EAP mills but have to commit 12 hydro plant into maintenance if not for profitability. Which then you need motor industry to maintain the power plants and steel to keep motor industry running.
  Well, this is the first entangle of convert electricity to steel. But that entangle hopefully do not come into place unless you have another way to produce electricity efficiently, which there are...
  
  
• Steam Turbine Each Coal plant can produce twice as much electricity as hydro plant and save 600 labor per level in the switch. Hydro plants are immediately obsolete once steam turbine is researched. Unless it is not feasible to supply the 50% (10 to 15) extra motor during the switch.
  
  
• Combustion engine The auxiliary automobile production will simply half your steam motor (40 to 20) production. There is good reason to not produce that much automobile until motor-automobile balance gets a better ratio. Which there are... deja vu? I have seen this line somewhere?
  
  
• Electric railway Probably pretty late out of tier 4 because requiring electrical capacitor of the same tier 4. Double motor production (40 to 80) without automobile or fix motor-automobile ratio from 1:1(20/20) to 3:1(60/20), and produces all the motor that is needed by power plants and every other sector of economy. This includes the newly enabled electric railway, which creates more demand for both motor and electricity. However, it also takes 30 electricity(Does this number just appear somewhere earlier?) on base per level.
  The second entangle of convert electricity to motor is rather the more important one because motor and electricity have a bigger impact than steel in late game economy.

EAP will take another section to discuss. But once steam turbine and electric railway (electrical capacitors is also guaranteed because it is prerequisite of electric railway) are researched. There is now a far more labor and construction efficient motor-electricity production that can produce all the motor-electricity to fulfill production switch that would otherwise inefficient.
The pause on infrastructure with electric railway switch also give more comfort in saturating motor-electricity demand and supply. Preferably, there should be no motor-electricity related production switch after tier 4 are researched and move into tier 5, with the exception of EAP.

At tier 5 there is no motor related demand from production switch. Arc Wielding and Flash Freezing both add new demand to electricity. However generally arc wielding building contributes the most of the new demand, 40 electricity per level of construction sector is a huge number. Which translate to 5 construction sector (500 constructions total) requires the support of 2 coal power plants (1600 constructions total).

Nonetheless, maintain the motor-electricity balance shall be easier once you can further entangle productions with oil.

When sophistication is for sophistication... EAP or open hearth(NEAP)?

Remember that in last section, it is mentioned that
EAP (electric arc process) Steel mill now produce 30 (25%) more steel at the cost of 10 more iron and 30 electricity compared to open hearth. However, notice that a hydro power plant only produce 50 electricity on base per level. It's labor and construction wise better to build 25 open hearth mills than 20 EAP mills but have to commit 12 hydro plant into maintenance if not for profitability. Which then you need motor industry to maintain the power plants and steel to keep motor industry running. Well, this is the first entangle of convert electricity to steel. But that entangle hopefully do not come into place unless you have another way to produce electricity efficiently, which there are...
Well actually, 30 more steel (1500 base revenue total) at the cost of 10 more iron and 30 electricity (1300 base cost total) is only marginally profitable, and that is not considering producing more steel lowering the price and consuming more iron and electricity increasing the price. That is the reason why, the expected change of profit is negative when you toggle from open hearth process to EAP.
For the sake of discussion, open hearth process would be noted as NEAP (non electric arc process) as open hearth is noticeably superior than Bessemer or blister thus open hearth is the only realistic alternative to EAP.
Back to the original excerpt, it is obviously labor and construction wise better to build 25 NEAP mills than 20 EAP mills with 12 hydro plant producing the electricity. The math is still right to build 25 NEAP mills than 20 EAP mills with 6 hydro plant. And still technically correct to build 25 NEAP mills than 20 EAP mills with 4 oil plant. Yes, Indeed. Here is the math.
In terms of construction, each steel mill costs 450 construction that can usually be funded by investment pool. Power plant otherwise costs that painfully 600 construction that cannot be funded by investment pool. 5 extra mill is 2250 construction, 4 power plant is 2400 construction. Mathematically correct.
In terms of labor use, disregarding ownership, both NEAP and EAP mills use 4500 labor per level on base, and oil power plant use 4900 labor per level. 5 extra mill is 22500 labor, 4 power plant is 19600 labor. Mathematically incorrect? Well, remind that steel mill have labor saving but power plant don't . With water-tube boiler (1500 less labor per level) the comparison is now 15000 to 19600. With rotary valve engine (2000 less labor per level) that comparison goes 12500 to 19600. Steel mill doesn't even have that negligible ASB line, enough insult and injury already.
As for resource wise, 25 NEAP mills use 250 more iron and 150 more coal (14500 base cost total) than 20 EAP mills not accounting electricity use. To produce that 600 electricity 20 EAP mills use, It would take 4 oil plant, or 6 coal plant, or 12 hydro plant. On resource usage, the best option is coal plant. The obsoleted hydro plant is too labor intensive that salary is too large. 6 coal plant use180 more coal and 90 motor (10800 base cost total), and 4 oil plant intakes 160 oil and 80 motor (11200 base cost total). Although the salary from 2 extra plants will exceed that 400 cost difference, if you read the oil guide, you will know that oil is scarce and that 160 oil can change 32 iron mine (32*5=160) from condensing engine dump to diesel pump, producing 320(32*10=320) more iron and saving 480 (32*15=480) coal and 8000 (32*25=8000) labor.
To summarize things and go straight into comparison, NEAP:

1. Available early NEAP is enabled at tier 3, nothing else really. And EAP is enabled at tier 4, which required the tier 3 open hearth process as a prerequisite. Also you need some way to generate those electricity unless other players in the market do that for you. It's possible at tier 3 electrical generation, but the proper timing is at least tier 4 steam turbine, just so many years later.
   
2. Construction and labor friendly Power plant cannot be funded by investment pool and has no labor saving. Steel mill is the opposite unless you are running agrarian, whose investment pool do not fund steel mill. It also allows you industrialize faster since on base, it is 450 construction to move 4500 + ownership number of peasants into industrial sector for steel mill. While for power plant it is 600 construction to move 4900(5500 for hydro) + ownership number of peasants into industrial sector. The throughput difference when steel mills do not reach level 51 (for 50% economics of scales) is noticeable too.
   
3. Use less scarce resource In terms of limiting factors of late game economy, oil is definitely the most important one giving its scarcity, coal is important because it is used in many production and labor saving, and iron is generally unlimited compared to oil, coal , rubber and hardwood.

On the other side, EAP:

1. Better profitability Even though 200 extra profit per level is marginal, it is still profit and Paradox will not make "upgrading" your production method worse off in that manner.
   
2. Better labor structure EAP is arrived at a later tier, indicating that it shall be more fancy and you need more professional machinists and engineers rather than simple laborers to get the job done. And machinists and engineers ask higher wages because they are professional. But if labor saving is considered, then NEAP is still better because power plants, again, do not have labor saving.
   
3. Stabilizing electricity demand Tier 5 arc wielding will induce a surge in electricity demand, because changing construction sectors from steel-frame building to arc-wielding building takes a whopping 40 electricity per level. Having a large electricity supply/demand helps to make the transition faster because you can transition more in the same time without causing a blackout, and faster transition allows production to be built even faster to meet up the new demand.
   
4. Sophistication Before anything real explanation going, consider this quote:
   

   Originally posted by Oscar Wilde:

   The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of expanding bureaucracy.

   In this case, you want to have a sophisticated production method to meet the ideals of a sophisticated economy. By changing from NEAP to EAP, you need more power plants to produce that extra electricity, which need extra motor industries to produce the extra motor those power plants use to produce electricity. And then more steel is needed to produce motor. Also you need more construction and labor to build those factories producing these entangling inputs and outputs. What do you get at the end of the sophistication? Well, a larger economy that gives government more minting, who uses those minting to... Well, enough is enough, you can make do with the rest of the story.

Electricity allocation during tier 3 hydro plant

Hydro plants are highly ineffective at producing electricity. However, at tier 3 hydro plant is the only way to produce electricity. So just have to get over with its sad 50 electricity per 600 construction and 5500 + ownership amount of labor. Even at 50% throughput, the number only goes up to 75. Also by math you need one motor factory for 4 hydro plants since electric motor is unlocked at tier 4 because Paradox nerfs hydro plant from 5 motor per level to 10 at patch 1.1.
Obviously, anything tier 5 is definitely dismissed since you shall have tier 4 steam turbine for coal plants instead.

Note:Since electricity production and consumption are local, if there is excess electricity better use consume it away. But revert the low priority ones away for high priority ones.

1. Heating Well, when every new goods is first introduced, they are either in no demand to encourage production/needs switch, or in shortage to encourage increase supply. Electricity quickly falls into the second category, so not much heating needs switch to electricity. Woods and coal are the better alternative, plus you are probably never out of supply of woods or demand of electricity, at least at this stage of game.
   
   
2. Electric Lighting for urban center You want to play for enlighten despot achievement(electric lighting on every single state, so every single state needs a urban center, obviously autocracy is also required) every single game. 8 extra service per level from coal to electric (2 to 10) is larger than the jump from market squares to covered market (1 more steel and 1 more glass, 1 less wood, society tier 3 steel-frame building), or from covered market to arcades (1 more steel and 1 more electricity,society tier 4 elevator). Those steel and glass saved from not consumed by urban centers will go to construction sectors instead. Not to mention each urban center now gives +2 infrastructure per level fully employed.
   
   
3. cutting woods Generally used to provide extra demand to store electricity supply before more important use of electricity knocks in. Then switch back to normal sawmills and allocate those electricity to higher priority target.
   
4. Sewing fabric The high priority target just talked about. Enabled at tier 4 electrical generation capacitors (the official vickypedia does not update it), you will definitively regret switch it back to normal sewing machines because of unstable electricity supply. 10 more dye, 5 more tools and a mere 10 electricity for 40 clothes is a good as a deal can be.
   
   
5. Radio The tech requirement is tier 4 radio plus its prerequisite tier 4 telephone, tier 4 telephone has the prerequisite tier 3 shift work, which can be researched after tier 3 electrical generation.
   Radio is worthy enough for rush because the late tier 4 military units are needing them. Telephone is extremely lucrative when you first build it, and it gives a JE for the tech boost into radio.
   If for some reason you have all those tech but not steam turbine for coal plant, provide the electricity with hydro plant if it must. It is 50 electricity per level, so one radio production for one hydro plant.
   
   
6. Watch movie Unlocked at tier 4 Film of society technology. It is not that profitable as imaged because arts have low demand from its 30 wealth threshold for a need. But hydro plant is good enough because there is not many arts academy anyway, at least at this point.
   
   
7. Electric railway before steam turbine Naturally by technology spread, steam turbine will often unlocked earlier than electric railway because electric railway requires another tier 4 electric capacitors as prerequisite. But if it comes down to that case, electric motor is still better because unlike EAP gives only 25% more steel than NEAP, electric motor produces twice as much than steam motor. For railway, slowly making the transition to electric railway on need (when doing so avoid building more railway in order to to prevent a low market access).
   
   
8. Delay Arcade Arcade is really in essence a labor saving production method, still work if there is not enough electricity demand.
   
9. Safely dismiss brine electrolysis Tier 4 electrical capacitors enables brine electrolysis in chemical plants. However with only hydro plant it is better to build more chemical plants instead.
   
10. Do not use EAP As discussed before, hydro plants just not producing enough electricity that NEAP is simply better.

Due to the high inefficiency of hydro plant, ,many labor saving are not recommended but only theoretically doable. Unless you are running out of labor to fill construction, here are the options by tech availability.

1. Electric fences is generally desirable Right on the bag with tier 3 electrical generation. 3 iron and 3 electricity for 1800 less labor is only subpar to the historically accurate harvest tool, which save 500 labor for one single tool. And the other 1800 labor saving is locked at tier 5 while the lower tier alternative is locked behind military tier 4 trench warfare.
   
2. Proceed with Refrigeration Enabled by 3 different techs. The tier 4 pasteurization allows refrigerated storage for ranches, fishery and whaling. The tier 4 electric railway allows refrigerated rail cars for fishery and whaling..Refrigerated rail cars are better than refrigerated storage because rail cars use the more abundant transportation, but pasteurization (refrigerated storage) is still fine. Also, despite refrigerated storage for ranches is weaker than electric fences, you are already using electric fences by then so it is just depends on how bad the labor pool is. You are not going for the tier 5 flash freezing here.
   
3. Hold on for power looms Enabled at tier 4 electrical capacitors. Automatic power looms saves 1000 more labor on top of mechanized loom. However, it costs 10 electricity for that 1000 labor saved, even use more labor in hydro plants. if throughput is low.
   
4. Confidently never use ASB line 5 oil is too much that the government forbids ASB line and takes all the oil away for tanks instead

Electricity allocation since coal plants

Coal plant immediately obsolete hydro plant once tier 4 steam turbine is researched. But the market may needs some transition time to adjust for all these extra demand and supply. To cut down transition time, it is rather important to build motor industries right before the research is completed to prepare the increase in motor demand, on the other hand setup the electricity demand.

Note:Since electricity production and consumption are local, if there is excess electricity better use consume it away. But revert the low priority ones away for high priority ones.

1. Heating The switch from hydro to coal allows electricity to be far cheaper, plus the new demand for coal pushing coal price higher. Pops will now gladly change their heating option to electricity once this price barrier is weakened.
   
2. Electric Lighting for urban center Even you have not fully switch to electric lighting, the moment from hydro plant to coal plant is the time. Doing so absorb all the new electricity coal plant produce while release those coal power plant now need, a win-win situation.
   
3. cutting woods Likewise, push down the cost of wood to increase profitability for furniture industry. Generally electric saw mills is the top villain to the late game wood excess, but it is still better to keep them this way.
   
4. Sewing fabric If you have steam turbine before electrical capacitor, that transition might take more time because the needs/production methods above does not use that many electricity, the electricity hunger production methods are still below.
   
5. Watch movie The default way to provide electricity is coal plant, arts academy contribute little to electricity demand.
   
6. Radio The ideal way to support radio production for electrical industries is coal plant.
   
7. Steam turbine before Electric railway Naturally by technology spread, steam turbine will often unlocked earlier than electric railway because electric railway requires another tier 4 electric capacitors as prerequisite. In the usual case, you might want to rollback some automatic irrigation to allocate the released motor to coal plant, and leave room for demand increase in order to match the electric motor switch.
   
   
8. Arcade Arcade is in fact a labor saving production method despite it nominally use more labor per level, that is because you would be overproducing service so the urban centers would actually employed less population to produce service.
   
9. Arc wielding Cost the highest 40 electricity per level on arc-wielding building, it would be irrational to support these electricity-hungry construction sectors with hydro plants. On the other hand, it is better to stick to normal steamships production if you want better ironclad-steamship ratio for navy. But if trading or fishing is the stronger demand for steamship then arc-wielding steamship is innately better.
   
10. Consider brine electrolysis With coal plants in their proper cornerstone place, brine electrolysis can adjust the fertilizer-explosive balance to a better position, nice when military tier 5 infiltrators come out.
    
11. Consider EAP As discussed before, it would rather be the debate regarding sophistication of the economy when considering switch from NEAP to EAP.

Another way to use all these new electricity is adopt better labor saving, though from hydro plant to coal plant already fire workers away. Be wary about short-term unemployment when proceed with labor saving.

1. Electric fences is generally desirable You shall really complete the switch during hydro plant, but not too late when coal plant are up.
   
2. Proceed with Refrigeration Tier 5 flash freezing is such a niche tech, like dough rollers for food industry. It is not like you shouldn't switch to flash freezing or refrigerated rail cars in case of ranches. But it provides so little benefit compare to its technology cost. Unlike railway gives a revolutionary sustainable way to improve infrastructure. Steam turbine revolutionize electricity production. Electric railway revolutionize motor production and military tier 4 trench works turn warfare into a utter defensive stagnation. Dough rollers, flash freezing and oil turbine are just filler technology when Paradox running out of ideas for tier 5 tech. (Or give power plant the appealing but not no way supportable oil plant.)
   
3. Consider power looms Probably happen when you are close to out of options, it is enabled with only tier 4 electrical capacitors and not lock behind a tier 5.
   
4. ASB line When even rotary value engine does not solve the lack of labor.

Oil engine and oil plant It is really a bait for AI to suicide their economy into an unending thirst for oil even after 1.1. Where Paradox has to admit their mistake, nearly double the oil availability and rail code(partially with events so less direct intervention) AI to build more oil wells.

If you check the oil guide, you would know that oil engine and oil plant is really a supplement to the motor-electricity balance established since electricity motor and coal plant. Entangling too much motor and electricity to the scarce and volatile oil adds instability rather than shock resistance to the overall economy.

Other guide

Feel free to move over to my other guide here. As for next guide, it is definitely about motor the foolish investment pool that refuse to actually does fund power plant.

• The oil guide (1.1 outdated)

Update notes

(Pre 1.6 )Normal fence has to wait till tier 4 trench works of military technology. The few cases when more labor saving staff is available before the less labor saving one.
(1.6) For ranches, iron fence now unlocked tier 2 field work

(Pre 1.5) Basic knowledge nonsense of power electricity

As good as Paradox has designated, electricity in Vic 3 has a paradoxical nature of being both local and global. While it is confusing, it stands that:

• Global supply in intra-market While it is already bizarre that 300+ infrastructure worth of hardwood (or coal, or rubber) in oversea colony can be sent home at no loss with 20 level railway and one single port running with sail convoy. A power plant in Hawaii supplying whole electricity Romania needed is just another level feat that remind people how Mars transport in Vic 2 works. Even with the best HVDC (high voltage direct current) technology, in reality you can't send electricity like that at no loss. Well that is Vic 3 logic, thanks Mars transport.
  
• Local supply in inter-market Now let's suppose Hungary also want some electricity from Hawaii, the only thing bothers is that Hungary is not in Romania's market (or vice versa, they are not in the same market for this case). Can Hungary just link a power line to Romania and get those Hawaiian electricity? No Way! By Paradox's designation electricity is not a trade good, this means Mars transport is strictly forbidden to transport any electricity (or service or transportation itself) between markets. But once Hungary and Romania are in the same market, suddenly the power line between Hungary and Romania connects and Hungary gets the Hawaiian electricity. Hungary and Romania are not in the same market? The power line disconnects. They are in the same market? The power line connects. As simply as toggle a button, just forget how difficult is to connect/disconnect power line in electrical grid in real life.

Because of this two points, there are further consequences:

• Stronger demand shocks within intra-market Because electricity cannot be traded, and the AI generally have a shortage of electricity because they don't know to Great Leap Forward with investment pooling. When the AI is invited into the market, the demand of electricity simply surge up and it is no way to mitigate the demand shock beside increase electricity production. On the other hand, when AI leaves the market, the electricity demand gone away with it will put profitability pressure on power plants and make them Fire workers to increase profitability. Using import/export to stabilize against demand rise/fall is not possible for electricity. The same thing happens to the other non-trade goods service and transportation, but transportation can be substituted by service and service are easier to fix. A large electricity production capacity is paramount in the overall health of late game economy
  
• Globalization call to eliminate inter-market As the game moves on, marginalized nations, for example the nation-states on the dissolved Austria most often do not have functional power plant. (They have a hard time getting the motor, coal or oil) How do they get stable electricity when their own power plants black-out around the clock? Join others' market that do produce stable electricity. Generally speaking it is easier to invite AI into markets as game move on, still you need to make your market appealing to them.

(1.5) Electricity is now is local market good

[sammwich]

About 5% of this is both readable and useful.