Backup or emergency power issues affect virtually every business enterprise in the United States. Some of the most obvious are hospitals, supermarkets, computer data centers and banks, for which the costs of an outage are most easily observed and calculated. Other entities are also critically reliant on power, including those in high-rise buildings, government agencies (particularly those with a security aspect, such as courts, prisons and customs) and gas stations. Important markets for commercial generators include uses that aren’t critical to life and limb, but necessary all the same, such as construction jobsites and special events.

Despite dipping below $2 billion in 2007, the U.S. market for jobsite and emergency/standby commercial and industrial generators registered a healthy 9% compound annual growth rate for the 2003-2007 period. SBI estimates that U.S. manufacturer shipments increased in 2007, but the overall market supply contracted due to a drop in imports and a jump in exports. Growth of U.S. exports has outpaced that of imports since 2003, and in 2007 nearly half the dollar value of U.S. shipments was exported. Despite a weak U.S. economy and rising raw materials prices in 2008, SBI expects robust growth during the forecast period through 2012 as businesses continue to grapple with the threat of power interruptions. Growth will also be driven by a rebounding construction market, the increasing energy demands of developing countries, the rental market and new environmental and regulatory requirements.

This study covers generators that are used on-site at commercial and industrial locations for emergency, standby or backup power. It does not include prime power, cogeneration, large-scale uninterruptible power, distributed generation, peak shaving or demand response power. Report data were obtained from government sources, trade associations, trade publications, business journals, company literature and investment reports. Shipment statistics were derived from the U.S. Census Bureau and estimated by SBI. Import and export data were derived from the U.S. International Trade Commission. Historical data are provided for 2003 through 2007, with forecast data from 2008-2012. The report also looks at market drivers, the competitive landscape, distribution and promotion, and the end user.

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