How Your Agency Can Avoid Power Outages

• August 1, 2025

By Donna McGinnis

Few industries benefit more from face-to-face interactions than insurance agencies. From an introductory sit-down to follow-up meetings, personal contact is the best way to build trust between you and your clients. When these interactions are canceled, postponed or disrupted due to a power outage, the business could be lost.

One major cause of disruption is a power outage. Insurance agencies can’t provide customer service or generate revenue when they are forced to close due to a power outage. Whether the outage is caused by severe weather or mandated rolling blackouts, they cause tremendous strain.

This year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is forecasting a 60% chance of an above-normal 2025 Atlantic hurricane season—which runs from June 1 to November 30—with as many as 19 named storms. This means power outages in affected coastal areas and even further inland can be expected. Similarly, to help prevent wildfires, many electric companies cut power during high winds, when fallen power lines are more likely to spark a fire.

Fortunately, with advance planning, standby generators and battery storage systems can power an insurance office through an outage. These two systems are now more affordable, efficient and powerful than ever.

Automatic standby generators are outdoors and don’t take up office space. They need to be installed on a concrete slab at least five feet from windows, doors and fresh air intakes. Connecting to a natural gas line is usually the most convenient fuel source, but standby generators can also run on liquid propane or diesel.

A standby generator is wired into the electrical panel with an automatic transfer switch (ATS), which monitors the utility line and immediately recognizes when power is lost. When that happens, it triggers the unit to automatically start within seconds so business can continue without interruption. Once utility power returns, the ATS automatically switches back to grid power. Employees don’t have to do a thing before, during or after the outage.

A generator installer can help determine the right size generator for your needs based on how much of the office space and how much equipment you want to keep powered during an outage.

While battery backup systems are often associated with solar panels, they don’t require a solar array to work. Battery systems can store energy from solar panels, the grid or a generator, and the energy can be tapped when needed.

Battery backup systems include an inverter with an integrated ATS to sense a grid outage and switch between the primary power source and the backup battery system. Batteries are sleek, stackable and can easily attach to a storage room wall or the outside wall of a building. With batteries, the switchover is instantaneous and silent. You may not even know the power went out.

Insurance offices can stay open and keep operating even when power is down in the area. Don’t be left in the dark.

Donna McGinnis is director of marketing at Briggs & Stratton Energy Solutions, delivering energy resilience and energy efficiency to homeowners and businesses. McGinnis has more than a decade of experience working in the residential and commercial backup power industry.