The purchase of the Times' generator marks the end of a 15-year campaign to obtain funding for the project, says Ron Severn, facilities manager. All we would have to do is miss a couple of issues, and it would pay for itself. The generator has been shipped to the facility, Severn adds, but the Times can't use it until all city permits have been approved. He anticipates it being fully operational by the end of April. Supply and demand aren't the only reasons for blackouts.
Severe weather can make some regions more susceptible to outages.
Planning the purchase of a backup power source can take months, says Smith. To determine the correct-size generator needed at the Press Democrat, he explains, a project team surveyed all equipment and systems necessary to produce the paper and calculated the electrical load. When the electricity goes out, the generator turns on in a split second. The machinery requires little maintenance if it's serviced at regular intervals, says Johnson. Because generators can run anywhere from eight to 16 hours, the likelihood of running out of fuel is slim.