Extended heat waves and powerful storms with heavy rain, snow, ice and wind have the potential to bring blackouts and emergency conditions every across Indiana and Michigan. Having a plan in place to protect your business in case of the unexpected is an operational necessity for a broad variety of industries.
If you’re deciding whether or not to invest in contingency planning for temporary power, consider the following benefits of advanced planning for power blackouts.
Benefits of Planning for Power Blackouts
Productivity
Where would your business be without a continuous, reliable source of power? When a weather event or system overload takes down the local power grid, it leads to a loss of work hours and halted productivity. A contingency plan ensures you have the power systems in place capable of providing the electricity required to operate at full capacity.
Rather than stopping in their tracks, employees will have a clear understanding of what’s going on and what they need to do to perform their jobs without interruption.
Safety
An unexpected power outage often results in a hectic situation that poses countless dangers and hazards to your employees, customers and valuable assets. Your team needs a plan to follow when there’s a disruption to the electric supply that includes how to operate backup equipment, safety checklists and detailed procedures for a variety of possible situations and outcomes.
Not having a plan leaves the safety of your facility to chance and opens your business up to potential accident-related liabilities.
Readiness
Whether you operate a commercial construction company, healthcare facility or any other business that requires an uninterrupted source of power, it’s not an option to stop running for a while. During an emergency is not the time to go out shopping for a backup generator or related power equipment. Even if you already own a new standby system, planning for a blackout includes testing to ensure it can keep your entire facility operating as it would with utility-supplied power.
A comprehensive plan also accounts for things like needing additional equipment, generator service issues and many other variables.
Costs
Making a relatively small investment at the right time can ultimately save your business a lot of money down the road. Developing a plan for electrical blackouts may involve upfront costs relating to buying or renting equipment, parts, tools and accessories, training your team and contracting expert support from a reliable service provider. However, these measures can help you avoid multiple days of downtime, extensive property and equipment damages, clean-up expenses, regulatory fines and legal issues. There’s always a price for peace of mind, and in this case the solution pays for itself many times over.
Practical Blackout Readiness Checklist
Use this quick checklist to confirm your site is ready before the next outage:
- Identify critical loads: life safety, IT/network, process equipment, refrigeration/HVAC, pumps, security/access control.
- Document power requirements: kW/kVA, voltage, phase, service type, and peak inrush for each critical load.
- Determine your power strategy: permanent generator, rental/temporary power, or hybrid.
- Map electrical tie-in points and verify lugs, cam-locks, and transfer equipment are field-ready.
- Pre-stage cables, distribution panels, and transfer switches for fast deployment.
- Establish a fuel plan: capacity, runtime at expected load, supplier contacts, and delivery access.
- Define roles and a communication tree for facilities, safety, IT, production, and leadership.
- Schedule testing: monthly exerciser runs, quarterly ATS tests, and annual load bank testing.
- Validate code and compliance requirements with your AHJ (e.g., NFPA 110 for emergency power systems).
- Line up partners: confirm 24/7 contacts for rentals, service, and parts.
Example Blackout Action Plan
Before an outage
- Conduct a site walk with single-line diagrams and mark safe tie-in locations.
- Prioritize loads by tier (Tier 1: life safety/process-critical; Tier 2: business-critical; Tier 3: comfort/non-critical).
- Decide on redundancy: N, N+1, or temporary backup strategy.
- Pre-approve a rental plan (with a partner like MacAllister Power Systems), including a hold-harmless and site-specific safety plan.
- Stage safe cable routing paths and NEC-compliant protection (ramps, guards, barricades).
- Train your team on start-up/shutdown, fuel procedures, and emergency communications.
During an outage
- Activate your communication plan and incident log.
- Start backup generation and bring online in priority order to avoid overloads.
- Monitor voltage, frequency, load percentage, and temperature; adjust as needed.
- Coordinate fuel deliveries to maintain your target runtime window.
- Engage vendor(s) for on-site support or additional distribution gear if conditions change.
After power is restored
- Return to utility power per procedure, then cool down and safely disconnect temporary gear.
- Conduct a post-event inspection of transfer equipment, cables, and breakers.
- Replenish fuel, document runtime/load data, and schedule any needed service.
- Update your contingency plan with lessons learned and performance metrics.
Why Partner with MacAllister Power Systems
- 24/7 emergency support and rapid response throughout Indiana and Michigan.
- Large rental fleet of generators, distribution equipment, cables, and temperature control.
- Cat diesel and gas generator expertise—sales, installation, commissioning, and service.
- Load bank testing, ATS service, fuel system support, and remote monitoring options.
- Factory-trained technicians and genuine Cat parts inventory.
- Turnkey solutions: site assessments, sizing, permitting guidance, delivery, setup, and operator training.
Don’t leave the future of your business in Mother Nature’s hands. MacAllister is an authorized Cat® dealer offering full-service contingency planning in case of a power outage. Visit us online to learn more about planning for temporary power or stop by one of our convenient locations to speak to a representative.