Can Your Business Handle an Outage During a Pandemic?
The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged businesses to adapt to changing state and federal guidelines, travel restrictions, and a volatile consumer market. For businesses in Myrtle Beach, the early months of the quarantine forced hotels and vacation rentals to close, resulting in loss of profits. While Myrtle Beach’s reopening saw tens of thousand come to the Grand Strand in May and June, a recent spike of COVID-19 cases has tourism numbers dropping in July 2020.
Profit loss ripples in its effects, hurting owners, employees, and the economic health of our region. To make matters worse, the pandemic now carries on into prime hurricane season for South Carolina. What will you do if the power goes out and forces you to relocate guests, close kitchens, and suspend service? This is the unfortunate question many are facing.
An emergency power system is the only way to ensure a continuation of service in the event of a large scale power outage.
Power Outages are Costly for Hotels and Resorts without a Generator
While we often associate power outages with hurricanes and other storms, sometimes a small road or construction accident can be just as damaging. For a local example, just up the coast in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, a car wreck caused unexpected power outages left restaurants and hotels in the dark, both literally and figuratively.
As the Lumina News reports:
“Several business owners found themselves in an unexpected costly predicament. With no power and, therefore, no electronic credit processing system or refrigeration, several restaurants were forced to close their doors, unexpectedly missing the lucrative Saturday night revenue. However, one hotel’s generator made it the spot to be on the south end, welcoming locals looking for a reprieve from the heat.”
For many businesses in the Myrtle Beach and greater Grand Strand area, profits from summer tourist season are essential to keeping businesses afloat during the off-season. Cummins, a major generator manufacturer, estimates that small businesses lose $12,500 per day from outages. Even temporary blackouts only lasting a few hours are costly, so it’s important for industries dependent on continual, around-the-clock service like hotels to be prepared with a backup power solution.
Hotels with Generators Win When Power Goes Out
As many hotels in Wrightsville Beach were forced to close, the one hotel with a standby generator profited from their loss.
The Lumina News article quotes Blockade Runner Beach Resort owner Bill Baggett: “’A lot of locals came by to get a taste of the ‘angel’s breath,’” said Baggett, referring to a nickname for air conditioning. “We were the only restaurant open on this side of the island and we had a banner night.’”
Like all commercial standby generator systems, Baggett’s automatically detected a power disruption and switched to generated power for the entire hotel and restaurant. This keeps all business up and running, and the added revenue from displaced guests elsewhere helps pay for the generator investment.
Learn More About Commercial Generators
Cooper Electrical Services in the Myrtle Beach area’s only unlimited-license electrical contractor offering commercial generator sales, installation, and service. Does your restaurant or hotel have a plan for a power outage during the busiest time of year? If not, let’s chat.
We are eager to learn about your needs and explore generator options that can help you weather a future storm (or even just a small car wreck).