This is a great game! For comparison, I'm a fan of other strategy board games, including Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, Carcassone, and Pillars of the Earth.
I think Power Grid has a great balance of strategy and relatively straightforward gameplay. It's not TOO difficult to pick up the basic rules (especially if you're playing with someone who's played before), so people can play even if they're not especially into thinking hard. Also, there's enough random chance that the most experienced players don't always win. However, there's enough going on strategy-wise to keep real game buffs quite entertained!
Also, I'm fascinated by way this game reflects the "real world" in some ways. For instance, the price of raw materials is determined by supply and demand - i.e. if everyone wants coal, it will become more expensive and you can eventually run out. Also, there's a great moral dilemma about using alternative (wind) energy - it's more expensive to start with, but then it's free to produce energy, but eventually the total capacity just can't compare to fossil fuels. Of course it's still a game, but some aspects of it could be used as illustrations or even teaching tools.
My only minor gripe is with the maps - you're spread out around maps, and each player has to pay to "transfer" between cities on the map. However, these transfer costs are wildly unequal - players who start the game in map areas with expensive transfer costs are at a significant disadvantage compared to those who start in areas with cheap transfers. There's apparently no incentive to start in the "expensive" section; it's just a handicap. So we've arbitrarily capped transfer costs at 12 - anything under that you pay face value, but you never have to pay more than 12. This helps a great deal to even things out!Get more detail about Power Grid.
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