US small businesses are unprepared for power outages

If the power goes out, will America’s small businesses be prepared? Not really, according to the results of a recent survey commissioned by Emerson Network Power.

The survey results include:

- 79 percent of the small-business decision-makers surveyed experienced at least one power outage in 2007.

- 67 percent of respondents anticipate experiencing outages again in the next 12 months.

- Of the small businesses that experienced outages in 2007, 42 percent had to close their businesses during the longest outages.

While small-business decision-makers ranked power outages above fire, government regulation, weather damage, theft, and employee turnover as threats to their businesses, only 39 percent of those surveyed have back-up power systems, leaving 61 percent vulnerable to the negative business impacts of outages.

To help small businesses understand the impacts of power outages, Emerson Network Power has launched a back-up power information resource at www.emerson.com/smallbusiness. It includes an online tool small companies can use to measure their vulnerability to the impacts of outages.

Emerson Network Power released the findings of the survey in conjunction with the fifth anniversary of the Great Blackout of 2003, which began on August 14, 2003.

•Date: 14th August 2008• Region: US •Type: Article •Topic: Power management
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