Generator "cross over" switch installation costs

[dennisgauge]

Yeah, all these other guys are talking about RESIDENTIAL backup generators.

Commercial is a whole different game. That alone raises the price by a fact or of 5.

As you should be able to imagine, there are a lot of extra safety concerns when it comes to gas stations. I'm sure there are strict laws on how statio ns are wired, safety equipment that needs to be in place and operational wh enever the station is operating.

It's not as simple as powering a couple of pumps to suck gas out of the tan ks. You've pretty much got to have the entire station powered and operation al if you want to sell gas.

[Stormin Mormon]

The government which libs love so much, has many pages of emergency prep information. Libs start off by ignoring the guidance of their very own government. And then insist they will set the terms of their own rescue. What a bunch of maroons.

generator, and the only place to get one was off the back of a truck at

2-5 times the retail price, you'd be MAD AS HELL.

No I wouldn't.

your politicians to make an anti-gouging law ASAP.

No I wouldn't. It's the misguided libs who don't understand economics and want more and more laws.

that you weren't prepared. It's the generator seller's fault for taking advantage of your situation and price gouging. "There ought to be a law!" you'll cry.

See above.

[TomR]

I agree with that. If the station is going to be operational, even during an emergency, I would expect that all aspects of the business would be up and running -- including heat, light, refrigeration, plumbing, etc.

[Stormin Mormon]

generator, and the only place to get one was off the back of a truck at

2-5 times the retail price, you'd be MAD AS HELL.

No I wouldn't.

your politicians to make an anti-gouging law ASAP.

No I wouldn't. It's the misguided libs who don't understand economics and want more and more laws.

that you weren't prepared. It's the generator seller's fault for taking advantage of your situation and price gouging. "There ought to be a law!" you'll cry.

See above.

[Stormin Mormon]

I agree with that. If the station is going to be operational, even during an emergency, I would expect that all aspects of the business would be up and running -- including heat, light, refrigeration, plumbing, etc.

[chaniarts]

huh? there really isn't any free will and personal accountability?

that may be true, but one is prepared, then one probably won't claim that.

[Ralph Mowery]

I guess that I am thinking real emergency. Things may be differant now, but when I worked at a hospital about 40 years ago we had two generators. One was automatic and one had to be put on line manually. We only powered the critical systems, the heart unit , intensive care areas some lights and that was it. There were emergency 120 volt outlets on each floor where something could be plugged in if neededd.

In a real emergency the gas may be the most critical thing. Keeping the beer cool or the lottery machines going may not be that inportant.

You reach a point as to ballance the money for emergencies against the payback. It is going to be foolish to spend $ 50,000 or more if there is no payback or if it will take 20 years to payback. Then if you price the fuel to fully power the whole station, you may never get payback.

[Stormin Mormon]

huh? there really isn't any free will and personal accountability?

that may be true, but one is prepared, then one probably won't claim that.

[Stormin Mormon]

I guess that I am thinking real emergency. Things may be differant now, but when I worked at a hospital about 40 years ago we had two generators. One was automatic and one had to be put on line manually. We only powered the critical systems, the heart unit , intensive care areas some lights and that was it. There were emergency 120 volt outlets on each floor where something could be plugged in if neededd.

In a real emergency the gas may be the most critical thing. Keeping the

beer cool or the lottery machines going may not be that inportant.

You reach a point as to ballance the money for emergencies against the payback. It is going to be foolish to spend $ 50,000 or more if there is no payback or if it will take 20 years to payback. Then if you price the fuel to fully power the whole station, you may never get payback.

[noname]

Fillerup!

[Stormin Mormon]

Fillerup!

[Ed Pawlowski]

Right. give me a call as soon as you get the approval. On paper you are right, in reality, not going to happen.

[HHSupply]

After last years back to back storms in the fall, in NY,NJ there is now a requirement for stations in defined areas to have emergency backup power. Most of Long Island was without power for about two weeks, stations in parts of NJ, NYC, Westchester county similar situation.

Bad part too was the main fuel transfer/storage dock in the port was also knocked out. Delivers had to come down from Albany area over 100 miles north.

Folks were driv> >

[trader4]

In NY, not in NJ. NJ legislature is considering such a law, but nothing has passed. And in NY, apparently the taxpayers are once again footing the bill.

[The Daring Dufas]

If I had a great deal of money to play around with and because I'm an anarchist at heart who will give the finger to government whenever I get the chance, I would open a warehouse store and stock it with the kind of nonperishable supplies needed during natural disasters. The difference would be, my prices would be ridiculously high all the time and advertized that way. Of course no one would buy anything except when................. ^_^

TDD

[Mik]

Some day maybe we'll wake up and remove the trees along power lines.

Until then we'll suffer the long lines at gas stations.

[Pete C.]

A lot, but you can also increase the price a bit in an emergency so perhaps make $0.10-$0.15/gal. Since there are essentially no gas only stations, one could expect that in an emergency you would also sell a lot of milk, water, soda, ice, snacks and the like further increasing the benefit of being open when your competitors are in the dark.

With the combined convenience store, probably. Gas is something of a loss leader for stations these days.

[trader4]

I wouldn't be so sure that you could charge 10 or 15 cents more a gallon and not have the authorities coming after you for profiteering during an emergency. That's what it's come to in this country with all the do-good laws passed by liberals. Here in NJ, some years back, a local gas station was busted for selling gas as a promo at some very low rollback price as part of a promotion they were doing with a radio station giveaway deal. So, instead of selling gas for say $3.50, they were selling it for $2. Some state agency guys came and stopped them. Seems there is a law that says you can't do that. Even more amazing is that we are actually paying some state "regulators", to sit around watching and ready to pounce on such serious matters.

And even if you could charge 10 cents more a gallon, with these emergencies coming up once every 20 years and a station on having a limited amount of gas in their tanks, it would still take a very, very long time to cover the cost.