How to comply with Florida’s generator law

80,000 watt, $45,000 generator donated by Personalized Power Systems to the Mizner Park Citgo gas station.

Petroleum marketers in the Sunshine state must comply with a new “generator law” that becomes effective June 1, 2007.

Morton Dranoff, for one, doesn’t have to worry about it.

Dranoff, a co-owner of Mizner Park CITGO in Boca Raton, is a beneficiary of the largesse of Hiram J. “H.J.” Frank, founder and co-owner of Personalized Power Systems, who donated an 80-kilowatt generator to the site and installed it in August.

(Editor’s note: For instructions on how to comply with the new state law, visit the Florida Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association Web site at www.fpma.org. The instructions are also reproduced in full at the end of this article.)

Personalized Power Systems, a dealer and installer of automatic standby generator systems, is located in Boca Raton; the company’s fleet fuels up at the Mizner Park CITGO. The station also is a major fuel supplier to the city’s first responders, so it plays a vital role during emergencies of the kind caused by hurricanes, with their attendant damage, typically including power outages.

“Thanks to H.J. and his generosity we feel we’re well prepared,” for such emergencies, Dranoff told NPN MarketPulse in an interview. Asked whether the generator would meet all power needs for his location, which includes an eight-bay garage and refrigeration units in the convenience store, Dranoff replied, “Oh, yeah – 80 KW? I can light up the street.”

Frank valued the generator, including installation and permit, at $45,000. It will enable the station to operate all of its pumps, lights and refrigerators continuously through prolonged outages of several weeks or more, he said.

Frank offered advice to petroleum marketers on how to make their businesses “generator-friendly.”

The first step is installing a transfer switch, which he estimated costs approximately $4,500, including installation by a certified electrician and the necessary permit. The next step is to acquire a diesel-powered generator. It should be diesel-powered, Frank said, because such units run more efficiently, generate more power and run longer than those operating on other fuels.

A petroleum-retailing site requires at least a 15-kilowatt generator, Frank said, to run pumps for the fuel dispensers, as well as lights. A 15-kilowater generator typically costs between $7,000 and $8,000, according to Frank. He noted that an operator with more than one location is not required by the new state law to have a generator for each location. Dranoff, meanwhile, had some further observations on the utility of the generator that now backs up his business.

Dranoff, meanwhile, had some further observations on the utility of the generator that now backs up his business.

“The irony is, this year we’re hurricane-free,” he said. Despite that, the generator has been most beneficial, he said, countering brownouts that occur with some frequency.

“It used to be, during some of these brownouts, we’d have cars up on the lift and we couldn’t get them down for hours,” Dranoff said. “Now we don’t have a problem any more.”

Here are the FPMA instructions on how to comply with the new law:

Understanding The Generator Bill And Your Obligations

If you operate a bulkplant you must be able to operate your loading racks (gravity feed is acceptable along with a generator) for 72 hours following a declared disaster. This 72-hour provision is only required if you have inspected your facility and deemed it safe to operate. You will need to meet this requirement by June 1, 2007. All new construction and remodeling projects as of July 1, 2006, forward that increase your property value by 50 percent or more are required to install an “appropriate”** transfer switch to accept a generator capable of operating all of your pumps, dispensing equipment, life-safety systems and, if functional, payment acceptance equipment.

By no later than June 1, 2007, all facilities within a half-mile of an interstate, turnpike or state and federally designated evacuation route must install an “appropriate”** transfer switch capable of accepting a generator to operate the same equipment as listed above in the new construction rules. This is based on county populations and fueling positions as follows:

If the facility is in a county with a population above 300,000 and has 16 fueling positions (8 dispensers accessed from both sides) you will need to wire for an “appropriate”** switch. The following counties meet this criteria: Brevard, Broward, Collier, Duval, Escambia, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Marion, Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota, Seminole and Volusia.

If the facility is in a county with a population between 100,000 and 300,000 and you have 12 fueling positions (6 dispensers accessed from both sides) you will need to wire for an “appropriate”** switch. The following counties meet this criteria: Alachua, Bay, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Hernando, Indian River, Lake, Leon, Martin, Okaloosa, Osceola, St. Johns, St. Lucie and Santa Rosa.

If the facility is in a county with a population less than 100,000 and you have 8 fueling positions (4 dispensers accessed from both sides) you will need to wire for an “appropriate”** switch. The following counties meet this criteria: Baker, Bradford, Calhoun, Columbia, De Soto, Dixie, Flagler, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Glades, Gulf, Hamilton, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Monroe, Nassau, Okeechobee, Putnam, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Wakulla, Walton and Washington.

If you own (as shown by the Department of Environmental Protection Storage Tank Registration List) 10 or more facilities in a county, regardless of location in the county or number of fueling positions, you will need to have one portable generator available and be capable of providing the same requirements listed above. This requirement increases as your number of facilities increase. Sixteen locations would require you have 2 generators, etc. All portable generators that you plan on using must be stored within the state or if those generators are located outside the state they can’t be further than 250 miles away and must be available and in use within 24 hours after the disaster if you have deemed your facility safe to operate.

Finally, if your facility or facilities don’t meet any of the above criteria you may volunteer to be part of a “Disaster Motor Fuel Supplier Program”. You will be required to provide the same capabilities listed above and you will need to notify your local emergency management people about your intentions. You will be required first to make fuel available for Emergency First Responders.

Then you may provide fuel to the general public. You must be aware that language in the generator bill gives your county the option of charging you a fee for volunteering in this manner.

**Appropriate transfer switch (manual or automatic) is at the discretion of the certified licensed electrician (they are required) doing the installation. It is accepted that they will make the right choice of switch for each facility. You must keep all paperwork for these installations available at all times for confirmation of the use of a licensed electrician.