Power Demand Trajectory and Generac Emergency Generators

Owners of Generac emergency generators will tell you how power outages disrupt daily life, compromise safety, and cause property damage. They also lead to food spoilage and impact remote work.

Fortunately, a whole-house generator automatically restores power to essential circuits or your entire home within seconds of an outage, maintaining normalcy, security, and protecting property. This empowerment is directly related to homeowner risks stemming from grid instability.

In fact, recent reports and findings highlight increasing electrical grid reliability concerns due to aging infrastructure, rising demand, electrification, transmission bottlenecks, and the growing impact of extreme weather. These factors contribute to longer power outages in many areas.

Unprecedented Demand for Generac Emergency Generators

Today’s Generac emergency generators market has experienced substantial expansion, driven by an unprecedented increase in consumer demand for backup power solutions. Valued at $6.1 billion in 2023, the U.S. generator sales market surpassed $6.43 billion in 2024 and could escalate to $10.26 billion annually by 2032, according to some estimates.

This significant market growth underscores a clear trend: backup power is rapidly becoming an essential component of modern households.

“In recent years, several regions in the US have experienced significant power outages, often linked to severe weather events or changing electric production sources,” according to Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI). “For instance, the February 2021 winter storm in Texas left millions without power for days, exposing vulnerabilities in the state’s electric grid. Similarly, California has faced rolling blackouts due to wildfire risks and energy supply issues, while New York has been grappling with grid stability issues following the shutdown of the Indian Point nuclear power plant in 2021.”

Although precise data on individual generator purchasing motives is scarce, increasing concerns about grid instability likely play a role. This is supported by several reports and study findings.

“As concern for reliable power continues to rise, it’s crucial to address the underlying issues plaguing our electric grid,” CEI adds. “Consumers shouldn’t have to rely on generators as a necessary safeguard against power outages, especially in a country with such vast energy resources. Grid managers and legislators at all levels should prioritize reliable power sources so that generator ownership is seen as a luxury rather than a necessity.”

However, that hope and prayer isn’t turning out to be the case in many localities.

A New Trajectory for U.S. Electricity Consumption

After a period of relative stability, the trajectory of electricity demand is undergoing a dramatic upward shift – a fact that owners of Generac emergency generators know well. For roughly 15-20 years, starting around 2007, national electricity consumption remained largely flat.

This era has decisively ended. Recent forecasts reveal a striking acceleration in anticipated electricity needs, signaling a fundamental paradigm shift for the energy sector.   

In just one year, from 2022 to 2023, the nationwide forecast for cumulative electricity demand growth over the subsequent five years nearly doubled, jumping from 2.6 percent to 4.7 percent. This surge translates to an expected peak demand increase of 38 gigawatts (GW) through 2028, necessitating rapid planning and construction of new generation and transmission capacity. 

A couple years ago, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projected record electricity consumption for 2024 and 2025, forecasting annual increases of 3.5 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively. Longer-term projections are even more stark, with some analyses suggesting total demand could increase by 50 percent by 2050.   

Data from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the entity overseeing grid reliability, corroborates these trends. NERC’s 2024 Long-Term Reliability Assessment (LTRA) indicated that the 10-year forecast for summer peak demand growth had surged by over 50 percent compared to the previous year’s assessment.

NERC now anticipates summer peak demand to rise by over 122 GW within the next decade, adding nearly 16 percent to current system peaks. NERC systematically collects and publishes these 10-year projections for electricity supply and demand across North America.

Generac Emergency Generators and the Next Decade of Power

Generac emergency generators gain attention during the most impromptu moments in life for homeowners: when power outages start increasing.

“More than half of North America faces a risk of energy shortfalls in the next five to 10 years as data centers and electrification drive electricity demand higher and generator retirements threaten resource adequacy,” according to Utility Dive.

The surge in electricity demand, driven by electrification, data centers, and industrial expansion, presents a huge challenge. While some utilities are taking the necessary step of delaying power plant retirements, this trend must become widespread. Failure to act could impact the economy and leave some Americans with less electricity redundancy.

“Federal policies are needed to support energy production, and manufacturing and infrastructure,” according to National Rural Electric Cooperative Association CEO Jim Matheson in Utility Dive. “Grid officials have been sounding the alarm around system reliability for years, and the most recent LTRA continues painting a grim picture of our nation’s energy future and growing threats to reliable electricity.”

Where the Electrical Grid Feels Pressure the Most

While national demand forecasts paint a picture of growth for both owners and shoppers of Generac emergency generators, pressures on the electric grid is far from uniform across the nation. Instead, demand is surging dramatically in specific geographic hotspots, creating intense localized strain. 

Understanding these regional dynamics is important, as homeowners and businesses in these areas are likely to experience the impacts of grid constraints more acutely than those elsewhere. Key regions facing significant near-term demand pressures include:

• New York (NYISO territory): Experiencing near-term demand growth from data centers, with longer-term growth driven by building and transportation electrification.
• New England (ISO-NE territory): Forecasts show significant growth driven primarily by the electrification of heating and transportation.
• Mid-Atlantic (PJM territory): A major hub for data center growth, contributing significantly to load forecasts.
• Northern Virginia: Recognized as the world’s largest data center market, this area faces extreme growth. Dominion Energy, the primary utility, projected its overall electric demand could grow 85 percent over 15 years, driven by data centers. The strain is already evident, with reports of data center developers facing longer grid connection wait times.
• Texas (ERCOT): This region is experiencing a confluence of demand drivers, including data centers that service artificial intelligence providers and cryptocurrency mining services. Those drivers also include expanding oil and gas operations, new manufacturing facilities, and potential hydrogen production.
• Georgia: Driven by both data centers and new manufacturing investments, Georgia Power has experienced substantial load growth forecasts.
• Arizona: Identified as a key growth area, particularly for data centers and industrial facilities.
• Midwest (MISO territory): Preparing for major industrial load growth and significant data center development.
• California (CAISO territory): Facing demand increases from data centers and electrification goals.
• Central U.S. (SPP territory): Also seeing rising needs, particularly from industrial expansion.

Hotspots, Connections, and Generac Emergency Generators

The discussion surrounding Generac emergency generators wouldn’t be complete without examining the challenges behind hotspots and the entire system. The multi-year wait times for grid connections in Northern Virginia signal that local grid infrastructure development is lagging behind the pace of demand requests.

This lag directly impacts economic development opportunities and can force developers into less efficient or potentially higher-emission interim solutions, such as renting costly portable commercial gas-fired generators. In some data center-heavy areas like Loudoun County, Virginia, local policymakers are revising zoning laws in response to community concerns about the cumulative impact of these facilities on the grid, as well as issues like noise pollution and land use.

As  you can see, the concentration of immense electrical demand in specific geographic pockets creates localized infrastructure issues. Meeting this demand means targeted, substantial, and often time-consuming upgrades to transmission lines, substations, and local distribution networks must be considered.

What does it all mean? Residents and businesses located within hotspots are likely to bear a disproportionate burden compared to national averages for electricity costs. They face a higher likelihood of experiencing reliability issues if infrastructure upgrades lag, and if potential disruptions and inconveniences associated with construction activity continue.

Potentially higher local electricity rates might be needed to fund necessary upgrades, which highlights the importance of analyzing grid challenges not just nationally, but specifically within local areas. The unprecedented rise in electricity demand is colliding with an electric grid infrastructure facing significant challenges. Decades of underinvestment, aging components, and system designs optimized for a different era are creating vulnerabilities exacerbated by new demands.

Aging Challenges in the Entire Electrical System

A challenge facing the U.S. electric grid is its old age – a problem that has caused many homeowners to consider the market for Generac emergency generators. About 70 percent of the nation’s electrical infrastructure, transmission lines, and power transformers is more than 25 years old.

Much of this equipment was installed during the major grid build-out phases of the 1960s and 1970s, meaning it is approaching or even exceeding the end of its typical 50-to80-year lifespan. This aging infrastructure was not designed to handle the stresses of our modern energy landscape.

It struggles to efficiently integrate large amounts of variable renewable energy generated in new locations. Additionally, it’s increasingly vulnerable to the physical impacts of disasters and harsh weather episodes, which are growing in frequency and intensity.

Point taken: older equipment is more prone to failures, operates less efficiently, and necessitates substantial capital investment merely to maintain current service levels, let alone expand capacity.

Pressures, Resilience, and Generac Emergency Generators

There’s more to the Generac emergency generators conversation. Layered on top of the challenges of demand growth, aging infrastructure, and renewable integration are external pressures that also strain the grid’s resilience.

• Extreme Weather and Climate Change: Frequent and intense weather events — including heat waves, cold snaps, hurricanes, wildfires, floods, droughts, and severe storms — pose a growing threat to grid reliability. Weather is currently the leading cause of power outages in the United States. Heat waves drive up cooling demand while simultaneously reducing the efficiency of power lines and transformers.
• Physical and Cybersecurity Threats: The grid is also facing heightened security risks. Physical attacks on substations and other critical infrastructure, driven by motives ranging from vandalism and copper theft to domestic or foreign terrorism, are a growing concern. Aging infrastructure with inadequate physical security can be particularly vulnerable.
• Supply Chain Constraints: As mentioned previously, bottlenecks in the supply chain for essential grid components, especially large power transformers, pose a significant challenge. Limited manufacturing capacity, long lead times, and shortages of materials and skilled labor hinder routine maintenance, necessary upgrades, grid expansion projects, and timely replacement of equipment damaged by storms or other events. Workforce limitations also impact the ability to build, maintain, and operate the increasingly complex grid.

Overall, remember that extreme cold can disrupt fuel supplies for power plants, such as natural gas pipelines freezing, or damage equipment. Wildfires, hurricanes, and ice storms can physically destroy power lines, poles, and substations. Droughts reduce hydropower output.

Simultaneously, the increasing digitalization of grid control systems (SCADA systems) creates vulnerabilities to cyberattacks from criminals, terrorists, hacktivists, or foreign adversaries. A successful coordinated physical or cyberattack could potentially trigger widespread, long-lasting blackouts with catastrophic economic and societal consequences.

Protecting the vast, interconnected grid infrastructure is an ongoing and complex challenge.

Neighborhood Impact and Real-World Consequences

The challenges facing the national power grid equate to real-world consequences for homeowners, residents, and neighborhoods across the United States, putting Generac emergency generators in focus. Concerns about resource adequacy and infrastructure bottlenecks play out as tangible risks to local power reliability, potential increases in household expenses, and community-level impacts.

Beyond these large-scale assessments, the experience for many residents involves a major increase in the frequency of local power outages, often linked to weather. A significant majority, or 73 percent, of U.S. counties experienced coinciding severe weather and power outages between 2018 and 2020.

Studies also indicate that overall grid reliability, measured by outage frequency and duration, has been declining since the mid-2010s, partly due to aging infrastructure. Importantly, the burden of these outages is often not distributed equally. Research suggests that disadvantaged communities, low-income households, and rural areas frequently experience more frequent power interruptions and face longer restoration times, exacerbating the situation.

At the end of the day, a household’s vulnerability can be influenced by hyper-local factors. Proximity to aging or poorly maintained substations or transmission lines can increase risk, and a home’s position on the local distribution network can also impact reliability. Residing within a demand “hotspot” inherently means being closer to grid strain.

Generac Emergency Generators and Homeowner Considerations

For homeowners, grid reliability risks translate into practical realities when it comes to power outages and Generac emergency generators. These disruptions impact daily routines, compromise safety, threaten food stored in refrigerators and freezers, and can lead to economic losses through spoiled goods, lost work time, or damage to sensitive electronics.

This increasing risk profile suggests that disruptions may become more common, more widespread, or longer-lasting in the future for many communities. This transforms grid issues from a distant problem into an immediate, personal concern for many.

Consider this comparison:

“City agencies can assist residents who lose power by offering vital services at shelters, for example,” states the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction’s Prevention Web platform. “But their strategy is likely to differ when a few feet of snow blankets the ground. There are so many nuances to preparedness, to response. Knowing which scenarios are more likely to affect an area is a necessary first step toward devising strategies to deal with outages.”

You can find county-level data at PowerOutage.us, a service that aggregates information on outages from utilities around the nation. Feel free to compare them with occurrences of wildfires, extreme heat and cold spells, heavy rain and snowfall, and hurricanes.

W. Danley Electrical

W. Danley Electrical is a champion in the world of Generac emergency generators, helping you execute the backup standby generator process from beginning to end. We prepare you for your installation, as well as obtaining permits, inspections, and assisting with repair and maintenance.

We also help you optimize and fine-tune your situation to determine the correct generator size. Get the most out of your investment. Contact us today.