Over the past three years, there have been an average of 85 deaths per year due to carbon monoxide poisoning from portable gas generators. And while any accidental deaths are tragic, millions of Americans rely on gas-powered generators during weather-related outages. How many more people would have died from consuming spoiled food or anything else that is more likely to occur when people have to go weeks without power?
Who Will This Affect?
This particular ban will primarily affect RVers and anyone that relies on portable gas generators in emergencies.
To see where this is headed, it might be helpful to look at California. California passed a law in December 2021 banning the sale of gas-powered generators beginning in 2028. Using gas-powered generators will not be illegal; you just won’t be able to buy new ones in California. Diesel, propane, and solar will still be available. And as for now, people can still buy gas generators in other states and bring them into California.
However, if action is taken at a federal level, it will be much harder to buy gas generators out of state and then transport them across state lines.
What Can We Do?
There is a big push to get people to install solar panels on their homes, but this is an investment of tens of thousands of dollars. And, depending on the way your home is built, it’s not always practical. For example, I do not have any south-facing roofs, so even though I live in a sunny area, roof panels would not generate as much electricity for me as they do for some of my neighbors.
If you live in an area prone to hurricanes or any other weather nasty enough to knock out your power regularly, you may want to start budgeting for a whole-house generator. While considerably more expensive than portable gas-powered generators, whole-house generators can run on natural gas or propane, and are hard-wired into your home’s electrical system. You just have to monitor your propane supply, if you are not hooked up to natural gas.
RV Generators
Obviously, RVs don’t have this option. However, propane and diesel portable generators will still be on the market, and these may be worth researching.
