Bi-Fuel generators start on diesel fuel and add natural gas load as applied, until the unit runs primarily on gas. This dual-fuel system allows for extended standby power runtimes for industrial solutions. This bi-fuel solution provided extended run times for a call center in Hampton Roads.

We interviewed the COO about their needs and experiences with their new 600kW bi-fuel generator for their office building.

Read the full interview or find the full video at the end!

Q: Can you tell us about your business and position?

I am Jake Paysee, the Chief Operations Officer here at Life Protect. We sell medical units to the continental US. These are little units that can be pushed to get help at the touch of a button, whether it’s a medical emergency or calling the police or emergency contact. It’s monitored 24/7, so customers can get help any time of the day. So it’s imperative to keep the power on.

Q: What would happen if you lost power?

As an inbound call center, we pay for every inbound call that we receive or that is sent to us. The impact would be that we’re paying for calls that we can’t field and that we can’t make sales out of.

Q: Can you tell us about your facilities?

This building here is 65,000 square foot. One floor is dedicated just to sales, the other one is the administration and our customer relations department. And on the lower level, we have our HR and our process and receiving department, amongst other security.

Q: What are your power needs here?

We’re always open and we always need power. We have a 600kW Generac generator with an ATS. We deploy at any time there’s an outage, whether it just be a normal outage or a hurricane or snowfall or for whatever reason. This is to run the entire building. There’s no guesswork. There’s no running power from this section of building that section. And there’s no “This is working, this is not working.” The whole building comes up within four seconds after power is out.

Q: What led you to going bi-fuel?

We wanted to mostly protect against hurricane season and not suffer any outages for whatever reason. We work seven days a week, so the idea of standby power for seven days became the goal. I’ve got a 3,000 gallon tank that will take me about four days, but we did not want to run into a situation where we can’t get fuel out here within three or four days.

The only way to do it was to add in the natural gas enhancement, and that carried it to the seven day mark. Depending on how much power I use, I could probably extend that to 10 or more days if we’re not at full capacity.

Q: What led you to working with Bay Power and deciding on Generac?

I had another building prior to this one where we installed a generator, but it was not set up with ATS to work properly. So we had to scrap that project. And when we started again, we started with Hitt Electric, and Hitt brought in Bay Power, their preferred provider or generators. And we’ve had a good experience with them in the past. They did a professional job and got me through. I had confidence that they could do it again.

Q: Every site is different. What challenges came with installing a generator at your site?

There was a struggle with placement as it is quite a large unit.

We started with having it far away from the entrance; however if you’re putting it 100-500 feet away, you’ve got to provide conduit and the copper to run from the generator to the to the main power room. Also my transformer was just outside my main power. So it made the most sense to put it in the back of the building right where we put it. However, we had sprinkler systems we had to move as well, and sewage that was going through there. I’ve got all kinds of things in that immediate area. But I was able to come right out of the back of my building into the transfer switch and into the generator and obviously from the cabinet that goes to the Dominion Energy.

Q: Final thoughts?

I can’t wait to see it in action. I think we’ll be testing it ourselves probably semiannually, putting the load of the building on it. We obviously have a maintenance contract where Bay Power comes out and does a load bank test separate from the building. But we have the capability of throwing the whole building on it and then seeing that it does actually work when it comes down to it. And with confidence you can know it will cut on and you can enjoy that. Looking for this to be the cherry on top that makes it all possible.

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