I cannot build a power plant. when I click on the lightning bolt icon (which is supposed to give the option of power line or power plant) it goes straight to power line. anyone have this problem or know how I could fix it.

Click and hold down the bolt, and it will come up with that option.

ahh..thanks now, how do I get people to join my city, I've small residential areas, both types. but, a small road, and rail way. because the game told me to build them. I've also got 3 hydro dams.

The way I do it is build residential, then some commercial, and also industrial, people need jobs. You also might want to add the school, and maybe a collage, not to mention police, fire department, and a hospital and prison as well. Keep to the simple roads for now until you can start making money off of your city. I normally start with a rectangle, divided into six parts, two residential, followed by the commercial, then the industrial, with roads between them, and around them. That has always worked for me!

Glad I could help in any way!

The most important part of building your city is having the proper mix of zones. At the very least, you need both residential (to house your sims) and industrial (for them to work). Commercial is handy, but will never reach the same demand as the others, and can be ignored in the early game.

Look at the Green, Blue, and Yellow bars on the toolbox: the higher the bar, the more demand for that zone.

These zones need to be powered, and also connected by roads. Sims will walk at most three squares to reach their destination, so any zoned tile must be at most three squares from a road. Even if they are connected by roads, heavy traffic and long distances can make it difficult for sims to reach their work, so you mustn't place your zones too far apart. But don't place them too near, either, or pollution will drive down residential property values.

As your city grows large, you will want to provide services -- fire, police, hospitals, schools -- but when you are first starting, these are very expensive. Ignore them until you have very solid positive cashflow.

Edit: Also, you should maybe check out Malkasphia's LP for some basic techniques:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBtLbma3zxY&list=PLA3282DB6C4FAB6DC&index=1&feature=plpp_video