Standby generators that start before you notice the outage.

Why this matters here

The outages in this part of California are not accidents. They are policy.

Southern California Edison and LADWP shut off power deliberately when the wind comes up in a high fire risk area. Those Public Safety Power Shutoffs can last a day or several, they land in the hottest and driest weeks of the year, and they hit exactly the neighborhoods County Line works in: Malibu, Topanga, Calabasas and Hidden Hills, the Conejo Valley hills, Montecito, Altadena and the Palisades. Add the ordinary outages from storms, equipment failures and the grid under strain, and a house without standby power will go dark several times a year.

An automatic standby generator fixes that completely. It sits on a pad beside the house, runs on the natural gas line or a propane tank, exercises itself once a week, and starts within seconds of losing utility power through an automatic transfer switch. The well pump keeps running. The gate opens. The refrigerators, the medical equipment, the network and the lights stay on. When the utility comes back, the generator hands the house back and shuts itself down.

Generator questions

Service

The $600 service, and why the price is on the page.

A standby generator is an engine that waits outside for years, and the twice-yearly service is what keeps it ready: oil and filter changes, the battery, a load test under real load, the transfer switch contacts, the exercise schedule and any fault codes in the controller. County Line charges $600 a year for both visits. Jeff Tucker's own comparison, which anyone can check with two phone calls, is that the large generator installers in Ventura and Los Angeles counties quote about $1,000 for the same work.

The price is published because a price that has to be asked for is a price that can change. It applies to units County Line installed and to units installed by someone else.

Timing

When to buy a generator, honestly.

The right time is spring and early summer. Shutoff season in Southern California runs from September into December, when the Santa Ana winds arrive, and that is when everyone calls. Lead times on Generac units and on permits stretch, gas work gets booked out, and a generator ordered in October may not be running until the season is over. A unit ordered in April is installed, inspected and exercised before the first red flag warning.

County Line says this on every generator page because it is true and because a customer who plans ahead gets a better installation: time to size it properly, time to place the pad well, time to get the HOA and the permit done without a rush.

In writing

What the estimate lists, line by line.

A generator estimate that says "installed" and a number is not an estimate. County Line's names every part, so two bids can be compared on the same page.

• The unit: Generac model, kilowatt rating, air-cooled or liquid-cooled, and the load calculation it was sized from
• The automatic transfer switch: amperage, whole-house or critical loads, and where it mounts
• The pad and the location, with the clearances to windows, doors and the property line
• The fuel: natural gas line size and run, or the propane tank, regulator and line, and who does that work
• The electrical: conduit, wire, breakers, surge protection, any panel work the house needs first
• The permit and inspection, and the HOA submittal where there is one
• Startup and a simulated outage with you present
• The twice-yearly service plan: $600 a year, both visits, and what each visit covers