Generator Installation & Backup Power in Bakersfield, CA

Standby generators, not portable ones

A permanently installed standby generator sits outside on its own pad, runs on natural gas or propane, and starts itself. It is wired into the building through a transfer switch, so nothing has to be plugged in and no extension cords run through a doorway.

That last part is the safety argument as much as the convenience one. Back-feeding a house from a portable generator through an outlet energizes the utility's lines outside — which is dangerous to the crew working to restore them, and illegal. A transfer switch makes that physically impossible.

How an automatic transfer switch works

The transfer switch is the part of the system that makes it automatic, and it does one job: make sure the building is connected to exactly one source at a time.

It watches the utility supply. When that drops out, it signals the generator to start, waits for it to come up to speed and voltage, then transfers the load across — typically within seconds. When utility power returns and stays stable, it transfers back and lets the generator run a short cool-down before shutting it off.

Because the switch breaks one connection before making the other, the generator can never be tied to the utility. That interlock is the whole reason a transfer switch is required rather than optional.

Sizing: whole building, or the circuits that matter

There are two honest ways to size backup power, and the right one depends on the budget more than the building.

Whole-building backup carries everything, including the air conditioning — which in Kern County is usually the deciding load, and usually the largest one. Critical-load backup instead feeds a separate sub-panel holding the circuits that actually matter when the power is out: refrigeration, well pump, furnace controls, a few lighting and outlet circuits, medical equipment, the network gear a business needs to keep trading.

For agricultural sites the critical load is often obvious and non-negotiable — a well or irrigation pump that cannot be down. We size to the starting load of those motors, not just their running load, because that is where undersized systems fail.

Permits, gas and the utility

A generator installation is a permitted job, and usually more than one trade's worth of it: the electrical work, the fuel supply, and the pad or mounting. The electrical permit and inspection are ours. Natural gas or propane supply has to be sized for the unit's demand, and that is coordinated with the gas supplier or plumber.

Placement is also a code question, not just a preference — clearance from openings, from the property line and from the meter all constrain where the unit can sit. It is worth settling that before the equipment is ordered.