Back-up Power for Gas Stations

When the electrical power fails in today's world, there are many, if not most things that stop working. One of those critical elements is the ability to pump fuel out of in-ground tanks at gas stations. 

The huge majority of gas stations do not have back-up generators with which to pump fuel.  

Earlier this week I was speaking with a "generator expert" about the estimated cost to have emergency power at a fuel station. These are "very rough" magnitudes of estimates that I'm going to give you.

• First of all, what size is needed? He figured a 30-40KW generator would take care of an "average" gas station. 
• The cost estimate to retrofit an existing gas station just to have what are called "pig tails" which you can hook a generator up was around $50K because of the need to rewire and isolate the emergency power.
• However, if you planned for it at the time of construction, you could have the facility pre-wired for about $10K.

It shows how a little bit of planning ahead of time can save money and have you be better prepared. 

When you need power — you want it now. ...  Now won't happen, unless you are thinking ahead about the eventual need.