On July 8, 2024, after leaving a path of destruction through the Caribbean, Hurricane Beryl made landfall in the Houston area leaving millions without power. Today, more than a week later, hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses still have not had their utility power restored. Beryl serves as a reminder that hurricanes, tornadoes, winter storms and wildfires are becoming more numerous and powerful and their impact more far-reaching. Preparing for these weather events has never been more important. Reliable back-up power for critical infrastructure is essential to keep your business operational. Losing even just a few seconds, let alone minutes, hours, or even days, is not an option in today’s connected world.
Power outages, often due to storms, are the leading cause of downtime, and when the utility is compromised, the UPS is the most common point of failure in the power distribution system. Proper emergency back-up power configuration and planning are important to prepare for a long-duration power outage and protect your facility from unplanned downtime.
With regular preventive maintenance checks, pro-active UPS battery replacement, factory service plan coverage, and a well-considered disaster recovery plan, you can minimize the impact of Mother Nature on your business.
Here are a few things you can do right now to ensure reliability of your back-up power systems.
- Make sure that UPS and cooling equipment is covered under a service plan. Check the term of the service plan to make sure that it is still applicable and current. If it has expired, renew as soon as possible to avoid a gap in coverage.
- Make sure there is a reliable fuel supply for the building’s back-up generator.
- Check that your facility UPS is online and not in bypass mode or in alarm status. If it is, call for tech support immediately.
- Check the status of the UPS equipment in remote closets or branch offices. Typically, these are supporting critical networking gear.
- Check the health of your UPS batteries. How old are they? Useful life for batteries in UPS applications is 3-5 years. If the batteries are older than that, it’s time to replace them.
- Perform a visual inspection of your switchgear, ATS and electrical room equipment. If you see signs of neglect or wear, such as excessive dust or any corrosion, make arrangements for preventive switchgear maintenance.
For tips on what you can do now to prepare for summer and fall storms, see our Storm Preparation for Data Centers and IT Space Whitepaper, call us for an assessment of your storm readiness, 800-876-9373, or email [email protected].