CBP Magazine: Articles

The cornerstone of a modern economy, an adequate, reliable, and affordable supply of electricity is critical to maintaining and improving our security, standard of living, and competitive edge.

For societies fueled by power, nothing is more devastating than the loss of this resource. No one will ever forget the images of Hurricanes Katrina, Hannah, Gustav, and Ike. In the 10 months from January through October 2008, the Electrical Emergency Incident & Disturbance Report, published by the U.S. Dept. of Energy, Washington, calculated that more than 14 million people were affected by weather-related or rolling-blackout power outages.

In late January 2009, the citizens of Tennessee woke up to a world of ice that wreaked havoc over the entire state, including the devastation of huge populations of trees and power lines. The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Washington, reported that 2008 was the worst season for tornados on record, next to the worst for hurricanes (2005 holds the record), and the worst year for flooding.

In its 2009 Report Card for America's Infrastructure, the American Society of Civil Engineers, Reston, VA, gave the U.S. electric power grid a grade of D+. "The U.S. power transmission system is in urgent need of modernization. Growth in electricity demand and investment in new power plants has not been matched by investment in new transmission facilities. Demand for electricity has grown by 25% since 1990. Projected electric utility investment needs could be as much as $1.5 trillion by 2030," read the report in part.

The North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC), Princeton, NJ, was blunt in a February 2004 letter to Congress, which read in part, "The recent blackout underscores the urgent need for Congress to authorize the creation of a mandatory reliability system that provides for the establishment and enforcement of reliability rules by an independent, industry-led reliability organization..."

The January 2009 Keeping the Lights On report from the Electricity Advisory Committee (EAC), Washington, concluded that today's electric power delivery-system infrastructure will not be able to ensure a reliable, cost-effective, secure, and environmentally sustainable supply of electricity for the next two decades. "The engineering, science, and technology expertise required to meet the formidable technical challenges of keeping the lights on in the future is disappearing," the report said.

The EAC insists that upgrading the nation's electric transmission grid is essential to ensure a reliable electricity supply, provide greater access to economically priced power, and support the growth of renewable energy generation.

The EAC report also cautioned, "This downturn is affecting consumers all across the country, companies in virtually every sector of the economy (including the electric power sector), as well as state and local governments. Current financial market conditions are placing severe restrictions on access to investment capital and will likely have a dampening effect on investment in U.S. industry for some time to come." There is no doubt this lack of investment will affect maintenance of our infrastructure.

Failure to address these basic infrastructure issues will soon make it more difficult to resolve the problems with the nation's electric system. Challenges to improve the grid's affordability, security, and reliability are heightened by new demands for climate change, green sustainability, renewable energy, and low-carbon resources.

"Addressing the challenge of climate change is quickly becoming a national priority and has received the clear attention of the new Administration," the EAC report said. "Proposed measures to address this challenge include the targeting of emissions from all sources, expanded development of energy efficiency and renewable-energy resources, and deployment of a Smart Grid."

With demand for electricity increasing rapidly and the nation's aging power grid becoming overloaded, outages are occurring more frequently, lasting longer, and becoming more and more expensive. The probability is high that every business will experience a costly power outage at some point. The only question is, "When will it happen and how much will it cost?"

No challenge is more essential than keeping the lights on. Power failure is not an option. Incorporating reliable backup power into building specifications is imperative to fulfilling a building's mission. With that in mind, a standby generator starts to sound like a wise purchase.

An automatic standby generator is a backup electrical system that operates around the clock. It automatically supplies power to essential circuits within seconds of a utility outage. After utility power returns, the generator shuts itself off and awaits the next outage. It can operate on diesel fuel, natural gas, Bi-Fuel, or liquid propane, and can be installed outside, inside, or on a building's roof.

Once the decision has been made that standby power is imperative for a commercial facility and/or clients, there are many more questions that need to be answered, such as:

Finding the right answers to these basic questions will lead to the purchase of the most appropriate technology, equipment, and systems application for the job.

A leading residential mortgage company in a Richmond, VA, office park, filled with Fortune 1000 companies, needed the guarantee of uninterrupted power. They sought the counsel of a local data center design/build firm and electrical contractor. Their highest priority was power reliability/redundancy for their mission-critical data-processing center and corporate headquarters.

What the contractors delivered in 12 weeks (the industry standard is 36) was a modular power system (MPS) from Generac Power Systems, Waukesha, WI. MPS is a flexible, expandable backup power solution that offers scalability, redundancy, and superior reliability. MPS allows end users to quickly and easily add units as additional power is needed.

The heart of the MPS is a fully integrated controller that eliminates the need for expensive switchgear. MPS provides the benefits of parallel generation in a simple, single-source system. In the past, the high cost of switchgear made the multiple unit arrangement feasible only for expensive, high-end applications.

The mortgage company executives have been impressed by the MPS performance, reliability, cost effectiveness, and versatility of this modular concept.

Located in Watervliet, MI, the Community Hospital's board of directors was searching for a reliable and redundant backup system to secure continuous emergency healthcare 365 days a year. "For every hospital, backup power is imperative to ensuring that emergency and life-safety systems will remain fully operational anytime utility power is lost," the board's statement said. "A reliable and redundant backup system also provides tremendous peace of mind to hospital administrators and facility managers."

To assure full power in the event of a utility outage, the board invested in a 750-kW Gemini Twin Pack genset from Generac. The diesel-powered unit is actually two 375-kW generators in one enclosure, designed to operate in parallel. The dual genset arrangement provides built-in redundancy and has twice the reliability of a traditional single-engine generator. If one generator is undergoing maintenance, the other will provide coverage of the load up to 375 kW, which is sufficient for the critical load of the southern Michigan hospital.

Once the genset was in place, it wasn't long before it was called into service. "We actually ran the entire hospital on the generator for more than three hours while the utility changed transformers in our area," a board spokesman said. "This system gives us much more flexibility than the one it replaced, and with the fuel we have on-site, our generators can operate for a week without interruption. Now there's the real definition for peace of mind."

Investing in standby power is a wise business decision. In today's uncertain world of failing power systems infrastructure and a deepening recession, keeping the lights on and the data flowing is not a luxury, but a necessity. Selecting and purchasing a reliable, redundant source of standby power may be the best lifeline for businesses to stay afloat and achieve ultimate success.

Amie Alvarado, industrial channel manager at Generac Power Systems Inc., Waukesha, WI, has been with the company for 10 years.

Backup Power Keeps The Lights On