Generac to Meet National Generator Demand With South Carolina Plant

The national demand for home backup generators continues to surge and has created a demand far exceeding our nation’s inventory stock. Generac, in its recent Q1 earnings report, indicated that the inventory demand will be manageable by 2022 with the addition of a newly planned Generac manufacturing facility in Trenton SC. 

So many homeowners are ordering backup generators that getting one in less than twenty weeks is nearly impossible.

“We have seen the demand accelerating since the spring of 2020, as our nation faced the global pandemic and the orders for automatic residential backup power generators started to increase. 

But now, in 2021, we are witnessing an additional 100% increase in sales compared to 2020. Each weekly report from Generac indicates a backlog that started at 18 weeks and has been steadily increasing to over 44 weeks in some cases for certain popular models. Generac attributes this to the Texas power grid failures back in February. 

We see it as great for our business and since we are the nation’s leading supplier/installer for The Home Depot, we are always ordering inventory at advanced projected levels and are very careful to maintain a six month supply of new product inventory in our pipeline”

Brian Lopatka, Strategic Improvement Director
Canter Power Systems, Greensboro, NC

Canter Power Systems is the nation’s largest installer of residential generators. And in a year that has been fraught with disruption, uncertainty, and limitations, American’s are now more than any other time in history seeing the value in being able to “stay home and get stuff done”. 

It’s the culmination of one of the most unlikely years we’ve ever experienced. A national pandemic led homebound homeowners to take on renovation projects with vigor, including infrastructure improvements like preparing a property for power outages and installing solar panels to gain energy independence. Increasingly, adverse weather events have greatly increased the demand for generators at the same time. Rolling power outages on the West Coast during wildfire season, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes, hurricanes, and most recently, snow and ice storms led homeowners to take energy solutions into their own hands. 

Generac, the nation’s leading manufacturers, was tasked like never before. Currently, their primary manufacturing facility is in Wisconsin where they churn out the majority of generators for more than 7,000 national dealers who, in turn, supply the commercial and residential orders.

Typically, orders tick up during the Atlantic hurricane season, which officially impacts the Eastern Seaboard, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean sea from June 1 through November 30.  With the pandemic and the added stress of an energy-independent state like Texas going through severe power outages due to unusual winter storms, it’s been almost impossible for Generac to keep up the demand. Production was already reaching peak levels as housebound homeowners attacked their backlist of improvement projects. 

“We can’t make them fast enough, and we’re doing everything we can to supply more product in the market,” Generac CEO Aaron Jagdfeld explained on a recent  CNBC episode of  “Power Lunch.”

And it’s not just generators people are exploring, it’s all sorts of alternative power sources. From solar and wind power to power storage, people want to be plugged into the control of all aspects of their homes and property. They seek independence and control over their power options. 

With the dramatic increase in orders, prospective generator owners have faced delays in navigating all the things that need to happen once a generator is shipped or delivered. Inspections, gas meter upgrades, and installer availability can create bottlenecks for homeowners. For Canter customers, however, response and delivery times are much faster because of our unique, turnkey model of ordering, servicing, and installation — the Canter Experience –, as attested to by Canter’s 400+  5 star customer reviews on Google.

Demand Surge Is A Win for South Carolina 

Generac’s demand challenges are netting out to be a big win for one South Carolina county. 

To meet the ever-increasing needs of requests from new customers, Generac has announced they will build a 421,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Trenton, SC located within Edgefield County. They hope the facility will be fully online by the third quarter of 2022 and expect to hire more than 450 employees. 

In addition to handling skyrocketing demand for backup generators, this new Generac facility will be equipped to address additional and emerging energy technology needs that are quickly changing the industry. 

Strategically positioned between Atlanta, Charleston, Columbia, and Charlotte, the South Carolina plant is located in a resource-rich area for employee acquisition and also is closely centered in an area that is impacted by hurricanes and growing generator demand by consumers. 

“With significant demand for Generac products across the country,” Jagdfeld said, “we’re excited to expand our operations to accommodate the increased interest in residential power systems. The Trenton facility is strategically located closer to our customers in the southern part of the country and has access to a local labor force capable of helping us meet growing demand while strengthening our market-leading position.” 

“We’re proud to welcome Generac to the South Carolina business community and look forward to seeing all that we know they will achieve in Edgefield County,” said South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster. “With a workforce at its disposal that is second to none and one of the most competitive business environments in the world, we know that Generac will have the tools necessary for success.”