Things haven’t been the same since the week-long freeze in February, said Joe Rizzo, president of Austin-based generator company Capital Power Systems.
Previously, the company – which helps commercial and residential customers – installed one generator per day, now this number has increased to five or six. A few of them are for homeowners, he said, which is also a change.
“We have a backlog of 200 facilities,” Rizzo said. “And factories weren’t able to keep up with the increase in demand across Texas and the US there was a shortage of materials and so everything was delayed, and production slowed.”
As families struggle to stay warm in the record freeze in February that left thousands across the state without electricity or water, many have resorted to using portable gas generators, gas grills or their vehicles to generate heat, leading to carbon monoxide poisoning and other situations dangerous.
In the months that followed, residents across Austin were preparing for similar situations in the future with all-home generators.
Austin Energy received hundreds of requests for information on or help installing whole-home generators in the months since the February freeze.
In a typical year, a city facility receives two to three orders about generators, which serve as a backup power source. This year, he received more than 350.
“The uptick started shortly after the storm,” said Joanne Weilheit, field operations manager for the electrical system at Austin Energy. “It’s been building steadily over the past few months.”
Wilhite explained that Austin Energy does not provide generators, but does help install them. Homeowners usually hire a contractor who helps them purchase a generator before it goes through a licensing process with the city.
Austin Energy’s role is to schedule a power shutdown so that the electrical contractor can install the generator without the electrical system feeding the home.
Wilhite said the company does not charge customers when they go out and unplug.
After the freeze, Welheit said, the company received about 25 requests for generator assistance in February.
“Immediately after the storm, people rose up. It was a disastrous event,” she said. “There was a surge right after that, and then it kind of faded away. Now as we head into the winter months, we’re seeing the rise again.”
When the power to the Texas power grid is cut off, the generator can be run and run on gas. The amount of time the generator can run depends on the size of the house and the duration of the outage.
“A whole house generator can provide power practically for the entire house, depending on the size of the generator,” Weilheit said.
Generators can cost thousands of dollars.
Rizzo said the price ranges from $8,000 to $25,000, depending on the size of the generator and the size of the home. He said the average Austin home would likely need a generator that would cost between $11,000 and $14,000.
Rizzo said the automatic generator system, the most popular option for customers, runs within 10 seconds and keeps the power running until normal power is restored. The system is connected to the natural gas line, but customers can also choose the propane gas option.
A battery system is also available, but Rizzo said it won’t last long.
Austin Energy also received more orders for solar batteries this year than the past five years combined, officials said.
“The cool thing about solar is, let’s say it’s an outage and I have energy stored in the battery; I can run my house on the battery, and if it’s sunny out, I can charge my battery while the power is out,” said Elizabeth Litton, a former Austin Energy official.
Austin Energy received 85 orders for battery solar panels between March and August. In 2020 and 2019, the company received 12 and 8 orders during the same period.
Incentives and a $2,500 discount are available to Austin Energy customers who install solar panels. Information can be found online at austinenergy.com/ae/green-power.
Austin Energy does not offer discounts on generators or their installation.