ElecComm Power Services Blog

Boston firefighters have been battling a smoky, electrical transformer fire in a utility building in Boston's Back Bay, that led to a huge power outage in the downtown area.

Emergency officials said Tuesday night there were no reports of injuries, but one person was taken to a hospital for minor respiratory problems. Fire officials said the smoke wasn't toxic, but people were advised to avoid it.

A local utility spokesman Mike Duran said a problem in one electrical substation spread to a second one. He said the power outage was affecting the Back Bay, Chinatown, the theater district, Kenmore Square and parts of the South End. He said once the damage is assessed the company will begin working to restore power with large generators.

Two hotels and nearby businesses were evacuated. Streets were closed in the area, and subway trains weren't stopping at stations there.

A local utility placed a call to ElecComm Power Services for emergency support.   ElecComm is currently loading in over 30 megawatts of emergency generated power into downtown Boston through miles of cable and many transformers. This is the largest emergency generator powered job in the city’s history . This event is so large a normally busy street that’s clogged with bumper-to-bumper morning traffic “Commonwealth  Avenue” is being used as an EPS equipment staging area. Stay tuned for updates.

As in the scenario that presented itself this weekend in New England and New York where natural events come our way and we have notice of potential power failure, ElecComm Power Services can provide a wide range of EPSS equipment to meet the needs of a wide variety of businesses.

When we are aware of and ready for potential natural disasters, keep your business up and running and be pre-emptive. Contact ElecComm Power for an emergency generator before the loss of power. Commerce is severely disrupted when the power is lost.

Hospitals and Power companies cannot afford a loss of power. It is imperative that a dependable and reliable emergency power back up plan is in effect. Contact ElecComm Power to see how we can help you prepare for the next event.

We don’t often give electricity much thought until we don’t have it. In these situations, especially in business, consider Emergency Power Supply System (EPSS) rentals.

When commercial electricity is unavailable, when commercial electricity is difficult to supply, and when an emergency generator is offline ElecComm Power is the EPSS supplier in New England and New York.
Companies and organizations that need emergency power supply services need to consider generator rentals.

When comparing generator rental prices, be sure you are comparing apples to apples. The cost includes: the type of fuel, pickup or delivery, the length of the contract, the voltage, and any special features. Keep in mind that a unit that uses natural gas, or a natural gas and diesel mixture, instead of pure diesel will be more economical. When the equipment is needed long-term your best option is a lease agreement instead of a rental contract.

Keep in mind too that the size or type of the unit you need is entirely dependant on your voltage requirements. A unit that is too small can result in power failure or unsafe situations; a unit that is too large is just a waste of money. Be sure to consult with ElecComm Power when considering your generator needs.

All electricity companies have planned shut downs of their electric supplies for routine maintenance or upgrades to their facilities. As an electric company call ElecComm Power for your scheduled shut downs, a name and company that many power companies in New England trust.

Newington Energy has this to say about ElecComm Power Services: 

ElecComm Power Services has been our supplier of choice for all our temporary power needs. We have used them to supply power when performing planned substation maintenance or during times of need for emergency power for repairs. Their staff of highly-motivated, intelligent Project Managers and support staff are second to none in the energy rentals business. During a recent planned maintenance period, we mobilized 2MW of temporary generation to support our work. ElecComm Power Services delivered the generators, performed the connections and provided 24/7 coverage of the generators until the work was completed. Their team is the best of the best when we require temporary generation.

But they are not the only company that calls us, NSTAR Electric called us during an emergency situation. We supplied their customer with emergency power until NSTAR was able to get then back on commercial power. 

A 25 foot section of wall collapsed in Dorchester Saturday morning.

The unexpected collapse took down electrical lines, knocking out power to the adjacent Venezia Restaurant.

The warehouse wall collapsed in the wrong direction during the demolition in the Port Norfolk section of Dorchester bringing down power lines but causing no injuries, according to the Boston Fire Department.

Venezia Waterfront Restaurant at 20 Ericsson St., is adjacent to the one-story wood warehouse being demolished.

NSTAR brought in an emergency generator to power up the restaurant which had a large function scheduled.  The rental generator was provided by ElecComm Power Services in Hyde Park.

An employee at Venezia Waterfront Restaurant said the restaurant power was restored by the rental generator and was open for business while NSTAR repaired the lines. Venezia was also able to host its three scheduled functions because of the emergency generator despite the surprise loss of power.

Well, hurricane season has officially started. Now we don’t often see hurricanes that are too bad in Massachusetts, but we don’t often see massive, destructive tornadoes either, or hail storms in June.  So to kick off hurricane season, we would like to remind you to not get caught unprepared in the event of an unexpected power loss.

When a major storm knocks your power out, emergency generators will keep you up and running and your lights on.

Last week in Greenwich, CT customers were left powerless from a series of CL&P system failures which began with a lightning strike last Wednesday. Repairs were waylaid by two more lightning strikes at the Cos Cob substation on Thursday night and increased demand in the suffocating early summer heat and humidity Friday evening caused further system failures.

During the height of the outages, the town used emergency generators to operate its sewage treatment plants and private customers, including Greenwich Hospital, switched to rented generators. According to Greenwich Hospital spokesman George Pawlush, the hospital used two rental generators for nearly 21 hours between Thursday and Saturday.

Portable rental generators can help you and your business continue to do business even with unexpected power failure. Often time, loss of power is catastrophic for a business, hospital, or municipal building. Call ElecComm for more information.

You can actually power your business on rented generators. Generator rentals are very economical as are rentals for heaters, chillers and load banks. It's not only emergencies, such as a power deficit, that create the need to rent a generator. Economically, in the case of a special event venue that would run for several days or a month it would only make sense to rent a generator rather than purchase one. A generator can be rented for virtually any specification and for any conceivable task and the terms are easy.

There are many situations and occasions when you may need a generator for rent. Such situations are based on your business. An office building may need a rental generator as a backup. Or, in the case of a hospital or a hotel, a generator is often needed as backup support. An ICU may need a generator to function as the main source of power supply during natural disasters or the in an environment where there is the potential to lose power since there can be no risk a power failure. Construction sites often require generators for hire as well since there may not be a ready power source at the location of the job site. Several small and large industries require generator rentals to keep them going on a regular basis such as the movie industry or the tower power generators for the telecom industry.

Rental generators are available in the power output range between 20kW to 2MW. These are fitted with systems for both emergency and safety shut down systems and can survive a hostile environment or inclement weather conditions.

There are three situations where Emergency power supply system (EPSS) rentals are useful: when commercial electricity is unavailable, when commercial electricity is difficult to supply, and when a facility's emergency generator is offline. In any of these situations, ElecCom Power, a supplier of EPSS rentals, is available for companies and organizations who need emergency power supply services. The following are a few things to consider before renting EPSS.

How much should renting a generator cost?
The generator rental cost depends on several factors, including: the type of fuel to be used, pickup or delivery of the unit, the length of the contract, the unit's voltage capacity, and any special features. One way to economize on generator rentals is to rent a unit that uses natural gas, or a natural gas and diesel mixture, instead of pure diesel. When the equipment is needed long-term your best option is a lease agreement instead of a rental contract.

What type of unit do we need?
The type of EPSS unit needed is dependent on your voltage requirements. Renting an undersized unit could cause financial setbacks, or worse, safety concerns. Renting an power supply system that is too big is a waste of money. ElecCom Power can assist you in determining which rentals would best meet the needs of your project, facility, or event.

What other EPSS equipment is needed?
In some cases, you only need a generator to supply power. However sometimes additional EPSS equipment is needed such as power distribution units and connector cables. ElecCom Power provides generator rentals as well as the equipment that carries the power to the intended destination.

Organizations lease emergency generators for a number of reasons, with fixing emergency energy blackouts, supplying electric power throughout a planned project which will compromise commercial power, and meeting a temporary surge in energy demand being the most typical. Just about all firms of support generation devices supply them over a single or a group basis, using the latter increasingly being usual for local power failures as well as blackouts in large facilities. As well as leasing electrical generator equipment, providers of emergency power generator rentals rent other electric powered equipment as well, such as Load Banks, electrical distribution units, fuel tanks, and various power accessories.

1. Load Bank Equipment. Load Banks are usually employed to test power sources to ensure their best function under the true to life conditions that Load Banks simulate by creating a power load and applying it to a power source.

Load Banks are available in four kinds: electronic, whose power may be designed toward precise circuits, and are appropriate for testing circuit breakers, fuse boxes, and automated transfer switches; resistive, which get rid off equivalent numbers of energy from an operating system, and so are well suited for testing power generators; capacitive, which create an increased power factor, and are perfect for testing systems that experience horizontal loads; and inductive, which simulate the vitality utilized by numerous building elements at the same time, and so are well suited for testing voltage regulators and generators. Load Banks for Switch Gear Maintenance A Load Bank may also be used to aid conserve switch gear, giving a current for the gear that mimics a commercial supply line current that signifies an upcoming outage. An electronic Load Bank or even a resistive Load Bank might be employed for this test.

2. Electrical Distribution Units. Distribution units work as electrical power distribution hubs within an electrical system. Familiar instances of rented distribution equipment are: transformers that feature rugged, all weather construction and are available in low voltage and high voltage design; transportable, all weather electrical panels which facilitate loads as low as 100 amps and loads of up to 2,000 amps; and condensed switchboards that facilitate loads of up to 3,000 amps.

3. Fuel Tanks. If you need power generators for over 48 hours, you may want to lease additional Diesel engine fuel tanks to power them. The tanks are available in one wall and double design, using the last option being optimum for development sites. A few power solutions providers offer contract choices to refuel rental tanks normally as necessary.

4. Power Accessories. When ever choosing major electric power equipment, it is also common to lease the accessories that facilitate its use, such as cable ramps, load share panels, cable bins, cable T's and quad box strings. Despite the fact that electricity add-ons are easy to find, leasing them along with the equipment that you need them for eventually ends up saving money.