Residents seek generators as a 'necessity' after windstorm, business owner says

The May 21 storm has pushed more residents and businesses to purchase standby and portable generators in the Ottawa area, and one local business has reported a major surge in interest due to the potential for more similar storms.

At theoffices of D.R. Howell Electric in Kemptville, Ont., they've so far received more than 1,000 inquiriesfor standby generators fixed devices, in this case powered by natural gas, whichare directly connected to a home's electrical system and automatically turn on when there's a hydro failure.

"[Calls and emails] started pretty well immediately after the storm, and haven't stopped since," said company president Dean Howell.

Howell said they usually receive a jump in inquiries andquotes after a lengthy power outage, but the longer duration of this past one caused by the derecho storm has servedas a wake-up call for many.

"It feels a little bit different to us," said Howell. "They seem very exasperated and exhausted. It almost seems like it's a necessity to them, not a luxury."

Howell installs generators in various sizes, with some providing partial serviceto power essentials such as a home's hotwater tank, well pump and fridge and costing about $9,000 to systems that power an entire home's needs, which retail for roughly $13,000.

In some cases, Howell saidpeople who requested a quote years ago have called back to pull the trigger.

"Their reaction seems to be that they feel there's going to be more of these events," he said. "They maybe thought the tornadoes in 2018 were a once in a lifetime situation, where nowthey're kind of realizing maybe it's not, maybe it's going to be somethingmore frequent."

Portable generators being resold

Many residents rushed out in the days following the May 21 storm to buy a portable generator. Almost two weeks later, ascan of local ads on Kijiji and Facebook Marketplace ten days after the storm shows some of those same people are now selling theirgenerators, saying they don't need them anymore.

That kind of thinking irks David Arama,founderand director ofWSC Survival School in eastern Ontario.

"Any emergency or disaster is an unplanned event," said Arama. "You can't waituntil it happens to prepare yourself. All I can say is 'good luck'."

Arama owns several portable generators himself, but he cautions they're not all built to the same quality and efficiency, which can be especially problematic in the event of a shortage of fuel.

He said he also keeps a stock of battery packs that can be recharged not just by a generator, but also by solar panels.

"It's one of thoseimportant tools, said Arama. "They're part of the mixture. I have a combination because you never know what can fail."

Healso said buyers should do their homework,especially since inverter generators those that are quieter and more efficient than traditional ones are more readily available, albeit for a higher price.

Regardless of the type, Arama advises owners to alwaysensure they have fresh fuel on hand for generators, as fuel can go bad after three months. He also encourages residentsto run their generator every now and then to make sure it works when it's actually needed.

Here's how long the May 21 storm has knocked out power