Backup Plan: How Generac Thrives Amid Grid Blackouts And Natural Disasters

Things looked bleak for Generac in 2008. CCMP Capital, a New York City private equity shop, acquired the firm two years ago. CCMP bought out the founder's 70% stake in the firm which had just $700 million in sales.

It was terrible. There were only two hurricanes that made landfall on the U.S. mainland in the last two years. The housing crash and Great Recession took a huge toll on Generac, cutting its earnings by a third before debt service and merger related charges. CCMP was forced to pony up more cash to prevent a technical debt default and was replaced by an accountant who had risen through the company's ranks.

The bean counter was surprised by the solution. He took the company public in 2010 after buying some debt at 50 cents on the dollar. He bought peripheral businesses such as cellphone transmission. He made more acquisitions to realize a vision of the home as an energy efficient "virtual power plant" capable of not only keeping the lights, heat and refrigerator running when the power grid goes down, but also selling juice back to utilities as part of a microgrid.

Jagdfeld says that homes have become sanctuaries due to the worsening of the nation's power grids and the emergence of the swine flu. Generac has an 80% market share in home backup generators, thanks to its own efforts and the troubles of competitors.

The company did double pre-pandemic levels of sales and gross profit over the last year. 20% of revenue is non-generator sales Since the company went public, the stock price has gone up and down. It spiked to an incredible $488 in October and is back at $250, still a hefty 33 times trailing earnings per share. The debt is less than 80% after the IPO. The value of Jagdfeld's personal holdings is $150 million. The company sold out at a profit.

With new housing starts falling and inflation-battered consumers growing wary of spending five figures for a machine they will turn on only a couple times a year, Jagdfeld expects the orderback to shrink. He has a backup plan.

Little Big Picture: Rain Checks

It’s not your imagination. The weather is getting worse. Last year there were 20 “billion-dollar” climate disasters in the U.S.—mostly superstorms and hurricanes—ten times more than in 1981. These ten-figure calamities cost nearly $153 billion— 48 times as much as four decades ago, even after adjusting for inflation.

Hurricanes, floods, and winter storms are included. The National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration is the source of this information.

Jagdfeld wants to start marketing an "energy independence" package that combines gas, solar, and batteries with machine learning software to manage your heating and cooling with an eye. He says that artificial intelligence will help you export power. You can't imagine how power will be delivered and consumed in the future.

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