The Importance Of Backup Power

Monday, March 1, 2004

The Importance Of Backup Power (NAPSA)—Late in the summer of 2003, the northeastern United States and parts of Canada suddenly went dark due to failures in the electric power grid that lasted nearly 48 hours in some areas, resulting in severe inconveniences for millions and business losses estimated in the billions. With a comprehensive U.S. energy package stalled in Congress, many are no more confident that the nation’s power grid is any morereliable today than it was then. But whether it’s caused by massive grid failure, a natural disaster like a hurricane or earthquake, or simply a tree down in your neighborhood, electric power is so important to businesses nowadays that even a brief disruption can be costly. For example, according to data reported in The Wall Street Journal (July 23), one minute of downtime for the VISA USAnetwork represents $1.92 million in lost transactions. Your business can mitigate the economic risk of power outages by installing a diesel-powered emergency backup generator. Diesel standby generators uniquely start automatically within 10 seconds of a power outage, helping to protect critical data, security and communications systems. “No other power source offers the combination of quick start-up time, reliability and load-carrying capacity,” said Allen Schaeffer of the Diesel Technology Forum. To help businesses protect critical facilities during a power outage, the Diesel Technology Forum offers the followingtips: Assess your risk. Identify your facility’s critical loads and assign a cost to the risks associ- Within seconds of the Northeast blackout, diesel powered generators were up and running, providing a reliable and safe source of power. ated with utility power interruptions, production losses and downtime. Install a standby generator. While other fuel sources take up to two minutes to engage, diesel-powered standby generators are uniquely qualified to provide power quickly and continuously during a poweroutage. Have sufficient fuel storage. For extended outages, running out of generator fuel before the outage is over may mean you’re out of luck. The chemical structure of diesel fuel allows more energy to be released per unit than any other source of commonly used power. Maintain your equipment and exercise the standby generator monthly. Be sure to operate the generator under load to make sure the entire system works. For more information on dieselpowered emergency backup generators, visit www.dieselforum.org.

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