are home generators going to be unavoidable in the future?

[frank]

I have been reading about all the wildfires in Hawaii, colorado, etc. and have noticed that in these states or areas the electric companies are being sued for negligence because they didn't shut down power when there were high winds expected. I have never heard of shutting off electric power to homes because of high wind. I live in Iowa and we get high winds at times, but haven't had a power outage of more than an hour in years. this might be a dumb question, but do you think the amount of litigation going forward might force power companies to shut down power during high wind warnings. I don't have a home generator and it might be something I should consider under these circumstances. what are your opinions?

 

[HenryD]

A few houses ago we had above-ground power and would get a few outages every summer (Minnesota). Our coop was a good one and we were rarely out for more than a few hours but did suffer through a 3-day outage one July 4th. I picked up a Honda EU 2000, just enough to run the fridge-freezer, lights, fans and laptops. It sat unused besides maintenance runs for several years at our last house which was all underground utilities. I don't think we had an outage of more than 30 mins in 8 years there. My thought is that a freezer full of food will pay for a small generator like that so why not get one? We still use ours as backup to the solar on our boat and I could sell it for what I paid for it 15 years ago.

 

[Masquernom]

We've lost power twice this year here in Louisville, Kentucky. 2-3 days each time. I finally broke down and ordered a portable generator a couple of days ago. I assume that will guarantee we won't lose power again for a number of years.

 

[Texas Proud]

Just be aware that having underground in your neighborhood does not mean you do not have above ground feeding into that...


We get power outages due to 'equipment failure' off and on.. but weather usually causes most outages...

 

[Music Lover]

I guess it depends where you live, the competence of the power company, and the condition of the infrastructure. I never had a power failure longer than 4 hours, and when they're that short it's just a minor inconvenience.

But I've read numerous comments over the years on this site where people have had power out for 24 hours to a few days. It probably would only take 1 power failure of 24 hours for me to consider a backup plan.

 

[Ronstar]

I got one after a several day power outage. A nearby tornado in 2015 wiped out power for several days less than a year later. Generator made it seem like there wasn’t an outage. We’ve had several outages since that have lasted a few hours. Generator has been worth it for us.

Don’t think that legal issues will affect anything in our area. Authorities don’t need to turn off power. High winds and falling trees knock the power out. We don’t have water issues.

 

[Texas Proud]

One of the thing that I wonder about some who have not had a long power outage... how close do you live to a hospital or other place that would be first in line to get power?


A friend of my oldest sister bought a house near a hospital making sure she as on the same circuit knowing that it gets power back first.. she has never had a long time without electricity...

 

[statsman]

We've had a few power outages lasting a while here in Central Texas, starting with the state-wide electricity issues after the February 2021 "storm of the century". The problem is the last two winters have led to intermittent power outages lasting many hours. The main source is tree-related damage (live oaks especially) due to them weakening from years of drought, followed by snow, ice, and/or wind storms taking down part or all of some trees.

I keep thinking about having some sort of power backup, but I wouldn't even know where to begin and the expected cost, the latter of which I'm sure is quite pricey.

 

[Aerides]

We are near a fire station and a medical facility. Even during major storms we come back online quickly.

My back up plan is not a generator. It's my car and a list of hotels. That'll work for a few days if needed.

 

[thod]

We are also 1 block away from a fire station. Rarely experience many outages and when we have, they are short.

We live in Texas and all the power lines near us are buried for the most part.

 

[aja8888]

We are also 1 block away from a fire station. Rarely experience many outages and when we have, they are short.

We live in Texas and all the power lines near us are buried for the most part.

We didn't lose power at all during Harvey or the frigid cold snap of two winters ago. Our house is one mile from three large, major hospitals (actually 4 now).

 

[Car-Guy]

I've had generator(s) for almost as long as I can remember. When I lived in the the big city, power outages where seldom and very short. When we moved to the country (~15 years ago) we had power outages "at least" monthly and usually they lasted more than a few hours at a time. We still live in the country but "I guess" they have improved on the infrastructure to the point that we only have a few outages a year now, but still they can last for a few hours at at at time.

And we still have/use a generator.

In addition, I keep two big window AC's, as backup to my central air... Also have a backup refrigerator/freezer. So we have backup generators, AC's and refrigerators.

The DW is okay with all these backups, but she does have limits.

 

[Surewhitey]

We lost power for 5 days after straight line winds in 2018. We had just moved into the new house.

Last year we got a large portable 9500/12500 Westinghouse dual-fuel from Sam's for under $1k. Used it recently and worked perfectly. We live near the police, fire station & a hospital, so we rarely worry about it...

 

[Walt34]

live in Iowa and we get high winds at times, but haven't had a power outage of more than an hour in years.

This is probably your best prediction of what will happen in the future in your location.

We bought a generator ~25 years ago when we lived in the Washington, D.C. area where all the power lines were on poles and the trees were "mature" (i.e., old and frequently falling down, taking the power lines with them). We'd use the generator about twice a year. Since moving to WV and a newer development 20 years ago, we've used that generator once, for about four hours. I keep the generator because I know we'll have a days-long outage the day after I sell it. Sometimes Murphy is so predictable.

 

[mountainsoft]

Just be aware that having underground in your neighborhood does not mean you do not have above ground feeding into that...

We ran all of our power lines under ground on our property, but those meet a pole at the road, with a line going overhead to a transformer across the road. This May that overhead line broke and started a fire on the other side of the road. We used up four fire extinguishers before the fire department arrived (spent 5 minutes on hold with 911?). We were without power about 8 hours before they could replace the overhead line. I still don't know why the line failed, maybe a tall truck clipped it or something. Who knows. The fire took off quickly and was a bigger concern than the power outage.

 

[MC Rider]

We had a shutoff for most of a day for "equipment upgrades" but at least they told us days ahead. Has a generator at our last place with plan to power the fridge and 1 window AC and lights if needed. Never needed. Here, the fridge is so big I do not want to think about pulling it out to get at the plug. We have central HVAC and 2 evaps. The gennnie did not do 220 volts and the electrician said it was not good enough for hookup to the panel, so I sold it. Currently hiding our heads in the sand on that issue. We may have Public safety power shutoffs if the decide wind makes for high wildfire risk.

 

[mpeirce]

We really shouldn't be advocating all (or even many) people getting generators.

The sensible solution is to harden our electric infrastructure: reliable power generating plants along with hardened power transmission infrastructure - and put local power lines underground so trees don't fall on them.

Expensive? How much does installing an maintaining individual min-power plants (generators) for everyone?

 

[Montecfo]

We have had no power outages either of us could remember over the past 23 years here in DC suburbs. I am sure we have had one or two just so brief as to not have any impact. Power lines underground.

I think to the extent states mandate non-persistent wind and solar power, there will be more risk of outages.

I agree we need a more robust grid for sure. Pushing use to the fragile grid is a bad plan but we see a lot of it.

 

[NW-Bound]

Here in Phoenix, we do not have weather related problems that take out power as in other areas of the US. The utility has this to say on my Web account.

Your service address has experienced 2 outages in 36 months for a total of 2h 14m.

Tue, Jul 26, 2022 - 0h 54m duration
The outage was needed for an SRP maintenance crew to make repairs or upgrade equipment.

Tue, Oct 5, 2021 - 1h 19m duration
The outage was caused by power lines down in the area.

In both cases, my home was already running on solar power, and I only knew there was an outage when I tried to turn on the light in the living room whose circuit I intentionally left on the grid.

Still, both the two large utilities here made a public statement last year that there might be a chance of demand exceeding supply in the summer of 2024. My solar set up is providing about 45 kWh/day in the summer, while I use about 65-75 kWh/day when the high is 110+F. The balance comes from the grid. My battery runs out of juice at about 10-11PM. If the high is under 100F, the ACs don't work as hard and I can be off-grid 24/7.

If the grid ever gets down for long periods which is not likely, I can shut down one AC, the water heater, and the pool pump, and try to live within the 45 kWh/day that the solar system gives me.

Still, being a suspender+belt kind of guy, I have a 2-kW portable inverter generator, plus a 4-kW Onan generator in my class C motorhome.

 

[Time2]

We had a small home business where we sometimes had $15k worth of frozen inventory in hurricane prone Fl. In 2010 we decided we needed to get a generator to protect the frozen inventory. I opted for a Miller welder/11,000 watt generator because I thought it would have a better resale value, wasn't sure how long we would be in business. It was only used for a couple of minor short term outages until 2018 and hurricane Michael, when we used it for 8 days before we got power back on. It was very nice to have in that situation.
I made sure it would start just before Idalia, but it missed us and wasn't needed.

 

[NW-Bound]

We really shouldn't be advocating all (or even many) people getting generators.

The sensible solution is to harden our electric infrastructure: reliable power generating plants along with hardened power transmission infrastructure - and put local power lines underground so trees don't fall on them.

Expensive? How much does installing an maintaining individual min-power plants (generators) for everyone?

That's the sensible thing to do, to have a robust infrastructure. However, things often don't work that way. Too many factions at work.

People with means will survive, while others suffer in the dark and cold, or heat as it may be.

 

[Masquernom]

I'm used to seeing storms come through and maybe you see an old tree or two down while driving around. This last thunderstorm came through and there are large limbs and trees down all over the place around my neighborhood in Kentucky.

I'm starting to wonder if climate change is going to make common thunderstorms more powerful. I never saw anything like what just hit around here.

 

[braumeister]

My back up plan is not a generator. It's my car and a list of hotels. That'll work for a few days if needed.

A very sensible approach for most of us.

 

[jazz4cash]

We really shouldn't be advocating all (or even many) people getting generators.

The sensible solution is to harden our electric infrastructure: reliable power generating plants along with hardened power transmission infrastructure - and put local power lines underground so trees don't fall on them.

Expensive? How much does installing an maintaining individual min-power plants (generators) for everyone?

I agree. The REAL question to me is whether private individuals will be allowed to purchase home generators in the future. I could see limitations on portable units or maybe you need to obtain a permit based on need for home oxygen, etc.

 

[Ronstar]

We really shouldn't be advocating all (or even many) people getting generators.

The sensible solution is to harden our electric infrastructure: reliable power generating plants along with hardened power transmission infrastructure - and put local power lines underground so trees don't fall on them.

Expensive? How much does installing an maintaining individual min-power plants (generators) for everyone?

Really?

Do you have any idea how much it would cost to bury all local electric lines? In an area where there are only overhead lines? And there are a lot of instances where buried power lines are not feasible. A local community was going to beautify their downtown by burying the lines until they got the cost.

And what about high tension lines? The latest tornado here mangled several high tension towers. These took the longest to fix and probably were the cause of the long outage.

Burying local lines seems simple. But it isn’t. And it certainly wouldn’t be cost effective.

It would make more sense to require generators than to try to bury all electric lines.