Extreme weather, droughts, and wildfires continue to plague California utilities each year. The state’s electrical grid continues to be tested, and utility companies are employing various strategies to combat the strain caused by shortages and weather damages. While many utilities are working to fix their issues, it’s not happening fast enough to keep pace with the growing energy needs in California. With families and businesses increasing their energy needs each year, utilities struggle to meet the growing demand. Scarcity has created the current conditions requiring planned and random blackouts. Living with this level of instability can be stressful for property owners who realize they cannot rely on the energy coming into their homes from the utility system.
How Extreme Weather Continues to Impact the California Energy Grid
From unplanned outages to rolling blackouts, energy companies are cutting power to protect the integrity of the grid and to reserve energy when the supply is thin. Protecting the integrity of the state’s electrical infrastructure is important because an aging system can be dangerous. Wildfires caused by sparks coming from old, poorly maintained equipment are a serious threat to residents and an example of how the current environment in California is straining the electrical grid. An entire town was nearly burned to the ground in 2018, and more than 80 people died from a wildfire caused by poorly maintained energy equipment. Stress, strain, and budgetary cutbacks contribute heavily to California’s unreliable power system, so it’s not surprising that many home and business owners are searching for alternative energy sources to meet their daily needs.
According to experts, the state needs more than $208 billion to update its weather-worn infrastructure, which is a huge cost gap state leaders aren’t proving they can bridge. Persistent droughts hitting California have put a significant strain on an already weak electrical grid. Many of the state’s reservoirs are drying up, leading to serious energy constraints from a significant loss in hydroelectric power. Additionally, droughts lead to brush and wildfires that damage the electric grid and other infrastructure.
How an Automatic Standby Generator Can Help
An automatic standby generator provides reliable auxiliary power for your home or business when weather conditions knock out the public utility grid. When the electricity is shut off, it can lead to power surges. Rolling blackouts and grid instability can lead to serious damage and hazard to your home and property. A generator can protect your home or business from experiencing these problems.
There are many additional benefits to installing a system, like:
Uninterrupted Power: A one- or two-hour power loss can be terrible for your home or business. An automatic standby generator can provide nearly seamless power to your home keep your systems running until energy is restored. Your generator can ensure you have the power you need to operate:
- Computers
- Internet Access
- Lights
- Security Systems
Ready for Rugged Conditions: An automatic standby generator is ready to power your home or office in rugged weather conditions that send other systems offline. Severe storms, hail, and snow can lead to area-wide energy grid failure, but your generator would kick in once the power fails and provide energy even if the storm is still raging.
Power Surge Protection: When your appliances and home experience electricity loss, the surge when it returns can damage the components of all the electrical devices connected to the system. If the surge is strong enough, it can even lead to electrical fires. An automatic standby generator can protect your home and connected device from a dangerous surge. Once power is returned to the grid, the generator can intercept the power to prevent the surge from hitting your system.
Peace of Mind: An automatic generator can provide you and your family the peace of mind that comes from knowing your home will have energy regardless of what’s happening outdoors. Wildfires, severe storms, and energy shortages will not leave you and your home compromised.
At Quality Home Services, our automatic standby generator experts can answer any questions you have about the purchase and installation of a new system for your home or office. Call us now at (800) 985-8103 to schedule a consultation.