Experience Teaches the Benefit of Standby Generators

This Missouri propane marketer learned the importance of having a back-up power system after a devastating ice storm in 2007, and sales and installation of the units has provided a foot in the door to promote propane use in all-electric homes.

With five generations of the Garrett family in the propane business, Lee Garrett and wife Monica, owners of Dallas County Propane in Buffalo, Mo., never foresaw that one day their business would include selling, installing, and servicing standby propane generators.

But after a devastating ice storm ravaged southern Missouri in January 2007, Garrett’s business changed overnight. Miles of ice-laden trees and power lines snapped like twigs under the weight of the freezing rain. The winter storm swept across several states including a large part of Missouri, Arkansas, central Illinois, extreme southeastern Kansas, central and eastern Oklahoma, northern and central Texas, as well as portions of Michigan and Indiana. Waves of freezing precipitation pelted the states over several days, leaving hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses without electricity for up to 14 days. In Missouri alone, 34 counties were declared disaster areas with damages estimated at nearly $353 million.

Lee Garrett said he hopes he never witnesses another ice storm like that of 2007. But he noted that the length and severity of the event was a wake-up call to the community — and to him — of the importance of securing a home or business against a power outage. “Until it happens to you, it’s hard to imagine your home, business, and entire town completely shut down for two weeks,” recalled Garrett.

Area residents were unable to purchase gasoline at the local convenience stores — gas pumps couldn’t operate without electricity and stores had no power to operate cash registers, lights, heat, and refrigerators. “The damage was truly unbelievable,” remarked Garrett. “For miles all you saw was devastation, huge trees splintered like toothpicks, power lines down everywhere. It looked like a war zone.”

The morning after the storm, calls started pouring in to Garrett’s office from people looking for propane generators. In 2007, Dallas County Propane didn’t sell standby generators, nor had a back-up system been installed at its own facility. Needless to say, a standby generator system was installed soon after their challenges of running a business without electricity for 12 days had subsided. And since that time Dallas County Propane has installed more than 200 standby units for residential and business customers.

One of Garrett’s first generator installations was at the town’s gas station and convenience store. Now if there’s a power outage, the gas station and convenience store’s electrical load is instantly transferred to their standby generator. “That place is lit up like a Christmas tree. You can see it for miles when everything else around is pitch black,” said Garrett. “The owner loves it, our residents love it. It has definitely been a boost to our community.”

Dallas County Propane’s standby generator business has enjoyed steady growth over the years, with 95% of the business in residential installations. The company is an exclusive sales and service provider for GE Generator Systems, as well as a service provider for Generac generators. The majority of the company’s generator installations include GE’s 13-kw standby unit and its 20-kw unit.

Garrett likes the GE Home Generator System, a compact, less expensive standby generator engineered to power a home’s basic or high-wattage electrical needs. “It is a good option for small to medium-sized homes or businesses interested in just powering essential circuits during a power outage. The GE Symphony II power management technology allows our customers some flexibility in choosing which appliances they want connected to standby power. We can save them a lot of money because we can install a much smaller generator and they still get the back-up power they need. Our customers love it,” said Garrett.

He is thrilled with the success his company has experienced since it began selling and installing generator systems. Dallas County Propane profits from the sale and installation of the units, but providing this service has also brought many additional benefits. “Just as important,” explained Garrett, “is the fact that it gets our foot in the door of many all-electric homes and allows us to sell propane-powered appliances, including water heaters and space heaters. We’ve seen substantial growth in our appliance and gallon sales as a result of offering standby generators. It has worked out very well.”

With each generator installation, Dallas County Propane installs a 500-gal. propane tank. “Our customers are relieved to know that their standby generator and 500-gallon tank will keep their home secure and comfortable for approximately one week should their power go out,” said Garrett. The company receives frequent calls from happy customers reporting that they love their standby generator and the security it provides.

Garrett said he hasn’t done much advertising and gets most of his business from word-of-mouth referrals, a big sign in front of the office, and leads from GE’s website from people searching for sales and service dealers by ZIP code.

“For many, that terrible ice storm in 2007 was the first time they’d experienced living without electricity for any length of time. The total upheaval and vulnerability that it caused in their lives made them realize they never wanted to experience that in the future, and now they don’t have to,” noted Garrett. “As unfortunate as that weather event was, propane standby generators have been a great addition to grow our business. They also have really enhanced our customers’ comfort level and the security of our community.” —Andrea Young