Sales of home generators have been rising steadily for about a decade. But what is the root cause/reason for homeowners wanting backup power/emergency power? Is it climate change, with the increasing number of power outages due to weather? Or is it simply the rising demand and burden on an outdated power grid?
As it turns out, it may just be a perfect storm—pun intended. Here are the facts. The US has an aging infrastructure, a power grid that has never been asked to do so much as it is today, and 70-percent of the lines and large power transformers are more than 25 years old, according to Americans For Clean Energy. That’s the biggest problem and storms are just adding to the headache. With politicians fighting over the budget daily, nothing for the foreseeable future will be done to fix the root cause of our power woes.
What else has happened in the last 30 years? Population growth! Do you realize the US population has risen from 248,083,732 (1990) to 339,996,563 (2023) a 37% increase. In that time, there’s been little growth of the grid. It is set up like a vertical map, meaning there’s one major power supplier for a region with only a few highways to deliver the power. Very limiting and not a recipe for growth or success anymore. Think of a smaller city growing into a larger city and all the roads are still two-lane highways… not four or five lanes going each way or numerous other roads to go the same direction—result—traffic, gridlock—too many people using the limited resource.
With aging equipment and more electrical devices pulling more power than ever, the outdated grid is pushed to its limits. Electric cars are slowly replacing gas power cars, and consumers and our leaders aren’t thinking about the need for more electricity while dams are being decommissioned, and wind turbines and solar panels are trying to contribute.
We spoke with a local master electrician about the topic during a recent install and he was adamant that the current electrical vehicle push, here in Colorado, is going to be the undoing of the grid for our region. If as many as 15% of the population in Colorado switched to an electric car, even that low percentage would overload the system and rolling blackouts would become more common.
He installs a home standby generator once a week. Ranging from $4,500 to $8,000 depending on the size and make of the unit. Installation will probably bring your total up to $7,500 to $10,000. He says a natural gas generator is the best option to avoid extras, like having to fill a fuel tank. Natural gas is typically the most reliable fuel type as it is rarely interrupted like our electric power supply.
In comparison, a 2,500-square foot home will probably run you $15,000 to $40,000 for solar panels while a battery pack will also run another $10,000 to $25,000 to run the entire home for a decent amount of time. Obviously, if a hailstorm or fallen tree damages the panels or the sun isn’t shining, that will also limit your energy production and time you can live without electricity from the grid.
We’ve seen major snow, ice storms and tornadoes this winter, all of which have knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of customers. For more on weather data and how power outages are on the rise due to extreme weather, click https://resources.generatormart.com/blog/weather-related-power-outages-on-the-rise. To prepare your own home and enjoy peace of mind when things get out of hand, check out our home standby lineup at https://generatormart.com/collections/home-stand-by-generators.