Proven Strategies to Keep Your Resort Up and Running During a Power Outage

by Eric Johnston
Senior vice president
Triton Generators

In mid-October 2006, a 6.7-magnitude earthquake rattled the Hawaiian Islands, forcing closures to everything from schools and businesses to supermarkets and clinics. Hotels and resorts were also adversely affected, significantly reducing service due to a lack of power and energy – despite their customers’ need for food, supplies and other essential goods.

Although most parts of the country won’t experience an earthquake in the near future because of geography, thousands of resorts will lose revenue, profits and even customers from power outages.

Resorts must be ready to operate without power from any number of circumstances, including threatening weather, weakness in the power grid and terrorist-related activities. The power grid has been a large concern over the years since demand has placed much stress on the system. An increase in the number of users and aging transmission lines has caused frequent “brownouts” in areas throughout North America. Weather-related outages can strike anywhere and at any time. From sizzling temperatures in the summer, hurricanes that pummel coastal resorts and icy conditions in the winter, weather can cripple the power grid in every geographic location.

Hotels and resorts must plan accordingly and include a backup power resource into their business continuity strategy. And now that so much of a hotel’s infrastructure is tied to a main computer system, it is even more important to ensure a constant flow of supplemental power throughout the facility, no matter how long the grid is down. This strategy will help guests remain safe throughout the duration of the outage and ensure a consistent and satisfactory guest experience. And even if certain hotel functions need to be scaled back, guests will appreciate the lengths that hotel management has taken to appease during what is most likely a confusing and uncomfortable scenario.

A resort's service-delivery system consists of the physical plant, processes, and people who provide the hospitality service to guests, as well as the guests themselves, who co-produce their experience. Because these elements form a system, failure of one element to perform up to standard affects other elements of the system and the service experience overall. A blackout can underscore these interrelationships and expose how fragile the system is when laced with the loss of electrical power.

There is a significant relationship between having standby power and mitigated effects of a power outage on a hotel’s air-conditioning, computers, elevators, emergency lighting, guest room lighting, hot water, refrigeration systems, and telephones. Additionally, backup power can offset operational losses from automatic doors, bathrooms, cooking systems, guest room locks, potable water, and two-way radios.

Backup Power Options

The first option for backup power is called an Uninterruptible Power Supply, or a “UPS,” which is a short-term battery power backup to keep your computers or small servers up and running while power is being restored. UPS units also protect your computer from power surges that otherwise might seriously damage or destroy your data. Dependable UPS products start at approximately $100 and generally include features such as auto voltage regulation, digitalized microprocessor control, energy saving- and cold-start functions, lightning and surge protection, short circuit and overload protection, and advanced battery management technology.

Other memory and storage peripherals that can benefit resort operators include flash memory, media drives, DDR and SDRAM memory, and mini hard drives.

In addition to UPS and other memory peripherals, many hospitality operations are now opting for back-up generators that can withstand power loss for hours – even days on end.

Just as critical as the generator, transfer switches are the components that transfer the distribution of power from the traditional source to the generator when the power is interrupted or knocked out entirely. Higher quality transfer switches enable owners to operate the generator remotely, which can prove beneficial if the location is not accessible because of damaged roads, bridges, downed power lines, etc.

Most generators run on propane, natural gas or diesel. Propane and natural gas consume more than diesel, but with propane, operators will have to bury a tank. Natural gas generators usually cost about twice as much as diesel. Diesel is probably the most cost-efficient method. However, most diesel generators carry a fuel capacity of between 24 and 72 hours, so operators will need to make accommodations for additional fuel delivery during extended power outages.

Despite all the recent attention surrounding power outages as a result of damaging weather or power grid failures, many hotels are still without a reliable source of backup power. This can be very dangerous since most generator suppliers do not have inventory available for immediate delivery. In fact, for many suppliers, order fulfillment can take up to 36 weeks. Therefore, owners and managers will want to pay special attention to the supplier they engage with. Executives may research more about generators through the industry association, the Electrical Generating Systems Association (EGSA).

Although the first priority will always be to ensure stability and security, those businesses that can provide continuous, high quality service and operations will experience the highest customer satisfaction marks. For this reason alone, resort operators in every part of the country must consider an uninterruptible power system centered around a backup power generator that has the capability of providing an adequate level of power to ensure business continuity.