Soaring temperatures and ERCOT’s request for consumers to conserve energy means the demand for home generators is sky-high.
“In the North Texas area, this is the highest we’ve ever seen,” said Travis Burns, owner of Generator Superstore in Denton.
From small businesses to big-box retailers, fear of a repeat of power outages, like what happened during the February freeze, is driving demand.
Generator Superstore sells permanent home standby generators and phones were ringing nonstop.
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“How fast can they get it? They want it and they want it now, so that's the typical question,” Burns said.
Since the winter storm, Burns said demand remained high but spiked Monday following ERCOT’s energy alert.
Burns said Generac, the manufacturer he uses, can't make the generators fast enough.
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As a result, customers who order now won't receive their generator until next year.
“Probably February for the most common models,” Burns said.
With scorching temperatures already upon us, those unwilling to wait headed to stores like Home Depot and Lowe's to buy portable generators.
Many were surprised to see ERCOT’s energy alert before summer officially starts June 20.
“It was one of those things, like, ‘Oh, here we go again,'” homeowner Pedro Garcia said.
Garcia said he just bought a large portable generator to power his home in Houston.
He even installed a manual switch to transfer power to the generator during an outage.
“I feel like the freeze kind of woke me up again about being prepared and not relying on the system,” Garcia said. He added the generator would also help during an outage from a hurricane.
He said he spent about $1,500 on his system. Home standby generators cost upwards of $10,000.
