Why does the Genesis Starliner need so many power plants? I know stats will change, but as it stands now it 6 size 7 power plants, and why does the Starliner have 2 size 7 shields? Can you please give us an insight into the thought process?

The ship is designed to have redundant safety features. The shields are meant to help take the brunt of the attack along with the power of the main engines pushing to get away from would be attackers. If a part of the ship is damaged, then the secondary power plants kick in and it needs to run the ship. All the system drains on power are necessary for this ship as they need to focus on keeping those shields up and powered, the engines running at full power, life support systems pumping, and the guns firing if under attack.