Often times during events like natural disasters such as hurricane season or Winter storms, there’s always the risk of power loss due to unexpected outages. In situations like these, many businesses have a guideline of what needs to be done in response to certain situations like a power outage. This is known as a contingency plan. In addition to having a contingency plan, many businesses have taken precautionary measures to install a backup generator in order to better face power outages that are caused by inclement weather, natural disasters, or unexpected outages such as downed utility lines. If you’re currently in the stage of building out a contingency plan to provide backup power to your facility, but cannot accommodate a permanently installed stationary backup generator on-site or need a viable option until a generator can be permanently installed at your facility - a portable generator rental may be a great solution.
What Is a Portable Generator Rental?
A portable generator rental is similar to a standby generator (or also called a stationary generator), except that it is mounted to a towable trailer that enables it to be transported from site to site and location to location. Like standby generators, these generators have a weatherproof enclosure that helps protect the internal components from the elements and more often than not, they also have sound-attenuation which helps reduce the sound pollution produced by these units. Portable generator rentals differ in that they have external connections that can connect to a facility to provide backup power or can be used on construction sites to power equipment if needed when power to the grid is unavailable. Portable generator rentals almost all the same benefits as a standby generator, but the easy to transport form factor of these generator types allow for flexible rental scheduling for both short-term and long-term needs.
Contingency Planning with Backup Generators
As stated earlier, a contingency plan is a a guideline that lays out what actions need to be taken in situations such as natural disasters, power outages, fires, etc. These guidelines could entail evacuation, best routes to take, any rally points to meet up, or for facility management protocols during these events.
A contingency plan may implement a backup generator in their plans due to either past experience or in anticipation if the building were to ever lose power. The contingency plan may instruct facilities management on general operation or monitoring of the backup generator in these situations. If the facility does not have a backup generator installed on site, the contingency plan may include contact information, contract details, and instructions for any established generator rental contracts made with a generator dealer.
One thing to keep in mind is that during times like natural disasters such as hurricane season or Winter storms, it’s typically difficult to secure a backup generator rental. This is usually because there are many businesses looking to rent a generator to help keep operations running even during a power outage. A good step to take may be to work with a generator dealer before any seasonal natural disasters occur and establish a generator rental contract with them. A generator rental contract helps you reserve a generator in advance which can be deployed to your site when needed.
Portable Generators Are Not Plug & Play
Portable generator rentals make great short-term and long-term solutions to provide backup power in the event of a power outage, but it is not simply plug & play. In order for your facility to accept generator power, there are some prerequisite steps that need t o be taken. These steps are usually conducted by a master electrician, but some generator dealers may be able to send out a technician to assist with this process.
Be Mindful of Rental Durations
Portable generator rentals may be a great solution for both short-term and long-term backup power needs, but it’s important to review the duration and frequency of generator rentals. Be sure to review the average spend annually on a portable generator rental and include any related costs. There may eventually come a time where the overall cost of renting a generator may equal or even exceed the cost of purchasing and installing a standby generator for your facility.
Fuel Dilemmas
Fuel needs to be considered when using a portable generator rental. A majority of portable generator rentals available on the market are diesel generator, which require a steady supply of diesel fuel to run. This also applies to permanent standby generators installed at a facility. This can become a challenge, as diesel fuel supply and delivery needs to be included in the contingency plan, especially because it may be difficult to secure diesel fuel supply deliveries during times of natural disasters. Personnel must also be available to operate, monitor, and refuel the generator as needed to ensure safety.
There are a lot of items to consider, including preparations that need to be taken before securing a portable generator rental and installing it on-site. If you have questions or looking for consultation on portable generator rentals or looking to secure a rental contract, feel free to reach out to us at RentPower.com!
We have portable generator rental specialists that can help you calculate your power requirements and walk you through the steps for renting a portable generator.
Give us a call at 610-658-3242, send us an email at sales@woodstockpower.com or fill out our Generator Rental Form and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible!