Generator Installation in Scarborough, Maine

Scarborough Marsh, about 3,200 acres and Maine’s largest salt marsh, runs through the middle of town, and the roads that cross it flood. The town notes that Route 1 and Pine Point Road take on seawater during astronomical high tides and storms; Route 1 flooded in a December 2022 storm, and the storms of January 10 and 13, 2024 caused flood damage to both town infrastructure and private property. For houses near the marsh and in the beach villages at Pine Point and Higgins Beach, a generator is only useful if it stays above the water, and a flooded road can also cut off fuel deliveries and repair crews for a while.

New FEMA flood insurance rate maps took effect in Scarborough on June 20, 2024, and properties in the floodplain or a dune system face extra rules. The town issues a separate Flood Hazard Development Permit, and when a repair or improvement costs half or more of the building’s value it counts as a substantial improvement, which can require bringing the building into compliance with flood rules. A generator, transfer switch and fuel tank placed above the mapped flood level avoid most of those problems. The town’s code officer, who also serves as floodplain administrator, is the right first contact on any shoreline property.

Inland, the reasons are the ones found across Maine: wind, ice and trees on the lines. When the October 2017 wind event swept the state, over 400,000 Maine homes and businesses lost service and a share of them stayed dark beyond seven days. With nearly half of Scarborough homes on oil heat and about one in five on propane, most furnaces and boilers stop in an outage, since their burners and pumps need electricity. Natural gas is available in parts of town through Unitil, and propane covers the rest. Seasonal cottages closed for the winter are a special case, since a sump pump or a small heater left running in an empty house fails silently when the power goes out. Goodnow Electric starts with a load list, then pairs a permanent unit with an automatic transfer switch or a portable with an interlock and inlet.