Home Standby Generators, Installed Right
When storms knock out power across Lycoming, Clinton, Centre, Union, and Northumberland Counties, a properly sized, code-compliant generator keeps the essentials running — heat, water, and the things that actually matter.
Storms Are the Real Risk
2024 was an unprecedented year for storms in Pennsylvania — 71 reportable outage events, the most in three decades, left over 2.8 million residents without power at some point. Even our local utility, PPL, logged its toughest reliability year on record. Granted, PPL has committed over $8 billion through 2029 toward stronger poles, smarter grid tech, and more aggressive tree-trimming. That's real progress, but outages still happen. A properly sized backup generator is just insurance for the handful of hours (or days) a year that are out of anyone's control.
Is This You?
A backup generator is worth consideration if any of this sounds familiar:
- ＋ You're on a well — no power means no water, not just no lights
- ＋ You've got a sump pump and a basement you don't want to flood
- ＋ You work from home and can't just wait out a multi-day outage
- ＋ You rely on medical equipment that needs steady power
- ＋ You have freezers full of food that can't sit without refrigeration
You May Not Need to Power Everything
Most people picture a generator running the whole house — AC, dryer, the works. In reality, what you actually want during an outage is a much shorter list: heat, water, refrigeration, and the rest of the essentials listed above. Those items can be powered by a smaller generator wired to just the circuits that power them. This covers what you'd actually miss, at a fraction of the cost of a whole-house system. Whole-house setups have their place — bigger homes, higher budgets, zero appetite for picking and choosing — but for most people here, right-sizing the system to your actual risk is the better value. Especially when a bigger system = more fuel to pay for.
Done Right, Not Just Done
Code requires a transfer switch any time a generator connects to your home's wiring — it's what keeps your system from backfeeding power into the grid and putting utility crews at risk. A permit, a proper inspection, and a licensed electrician who coordinates both are required for this; they're what makes sure the system works safely when you need it. That's where Otta Electric comes in; we size it for your actual load, install it to code, and pull the permits — so you don't have to worry about it.
Common Questions
Most standby generators run on natural gas or propane. We'll help you figure out which makes sense based on what's already available at your property.
Yes — a generator that's never been serviced is the thing that fails to start the one time you actually need it. We can talk through a maintenance plan during your quote.
We install to code and to manufacturer spec, and Otta Electric holds Generac Aligned Contractor status. We install other brands as well. If a specific brand's full manufacturer warranty matters to you, ask us — we'll be straight with you about what that does and doesn't require.
Where This Comes From
- Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission Electric service reliability reports tracking outage frequency and duration for PA distribution utilities. puc.pa.gov
- PPL Electric Utilities Grid resilience and multi-year infrastructure investment program. pplelectric.com
- U.S. Energy Information Administration National electricity reliability metrics, including average outage duration (SAIDI) and frequency (SAIFI). eia.gov