Generator installation in Willis, TX
Generac home standby generators for Willis homes, sized to the house and set up for propane or natural gas.
Generac Prestige DealerGenerac's highest dealer designation. We sell, install and service Generac home standby generators.
Generac generatorsStandby power for Willis homes, from Lake Conroe to the national forest.
Willis is about 48 minutes from our Tomball shop, depending on traffic.
When Hurricane Beryl hit in July 2024, more than 81,500 of Sam Houston Electric Cooperative's 91,000 meters were dark at the peak on July 8. The co-op expected its Willis-area members back by the end of July 12, and Royal Forest by July 12-13. The same storm destroyed the motor on one of the city's water wells. The city's water system now has a state-approved emergency plan using permanently installed generators that start automatically during long outages.
Wired, a Generac Prestige Dealer, puts automatic backup on Willis homes, sized to each house. Sizing starts with a free in-home visit.
Outages, fuel and permits around Willis.
Gas lines are not a given in Willis
Census estimates show only 14% of occupied homes inside the City of Willis heat with utility gas. The share is 17% in ZIP 77378 and 38% in ZIP 77318 on the Lake Conroe side. CenterPoint has gas lines in the area, so we check for service at your address first. Where no gas line reaches the house, the generator runs on propane from a tank on your property.
Co-op members and the MISO grid
Sam Houston Electric Cooperative, which serves members east of town, runs about 99% of its system on the MISO grid rather than ERCOT. In February 2021, MISO ordered the co-op to run rolling blackouts across its system.
Ice storms when most homes heat with electricity
Winter Storm Uri brought sleet, snow and up to half an inch of ice to Montgomery County in February 2021, with widespread outages and burst pipes. A year later, freezing rain closed FM 1097 at I-45 near Willis. With 86% of occupied homes in the city heating with electricity, an outage in that kind of cold can leave a house without heat unless the generator can carry the heat pump or electric furnace.
Permits for a Willis generator
Inside city limits, a standby generator goes in under a City of Willis permit, and we handle that permit and its inspections. Beyond the city line, Wired checks which rules cover the address before the pad is set.
Backfeed and the transfer switch
In a notice about planned work near Willis, Sam Houston Electric Cooperative warned never to connect a generator straight to home wiring unless the house is wired for it, because power can backfeed onto the lines. It told members to have a licensed electrician install the connection equipment. A standby unit's automatic transfer switch separates your house from the utility before the generator feeds it, so the generator's power stays off Entergy's or the co-op's lines.
Generator services in Willis.
ZIP codes we cover in Willis: 77318, 77378.
- Free in-home sizing visits that count electric heat and air conditioning in Willis homes
- Generac standby installs with an automatic transfer switch, for Entergy and co-op homes alike
- Propane hookup, or natural gas where a CenterPoint line reaches your address
- Generator pads, set as part of the install
- HOA and POA paperwork for Willis-area subdivisions that have an association
- Portable generator inlet and interlock hookups, so a portable unit connects without backfeeding the lines
- Yearly maintenance, which we recommend, and Shield Protection plans
Questions we get from Willis.
Does a generator pad inside Willis city limits need its own permit?
Not under the city's posted fee schedule (effective October 2019). That schedule treats the concrete pad as part of the generator permit, and that permit includes four inspections.
My street in Willis has no natural gas. Can I still get a standby generator?
You can, with propane. We set the unit up to run from a tank on site.
Can my HOA near Lake Conroe refuse a generator?
Not outright. A 2015 state law, Texas Property Code 202.019, keeps a property owners' association from banning permanently installed standby generators. An association can still set rules on a generator's location, screening and testing, and we prepare the HOA paperwork with those rules in mind.
I am a Sam Houston EC member east of Willis. Will a generator cover rolling blackouts?
It is designed to. A standby generator with an automatic transfer switch comes on automatically after an outage, whether a storm or a MISO-ordered rolling blackout caused it.
How long does a generator install in Willis take?
Permit timing depends on whether your address falls under the City of Willis or a county, so that part varies. Once the permit step is done, the install itself usually takes one day.
Will a generator run my heat pump during an ice storm like Uri?
It can, if the unit is sized for it. At the sizing visit we include your heat pump or electric furnace in the load.
$2,000 off a generator install. While supplies last.
It only comes off the units on our floor, so when they're gone, it's gone. New air-cooled Generac installs come with a free 10-year warranty, and financing is there if you want it. Permit timing depends on your city or county. The install itself is usually one day.
Generator in Willis?
Call. The estimate is free.