Hurricane Milton made that point with unusual clarity. In October 2024, more than 64,000 FPL customers in St. Lucie County lost power in a single storm. Some homes were dark for days. That’s not a new pattern for the Treasure Coast: in September 2004, Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne struck within three weeks of each other, leaving some residents without power for up to two weeks after Jeanne alone. Frances caused over $1 billion in damage in the county. For homeowners with standby generators, both storms asked the same question every hurricane season asks: when the grid went down, did it start?
We’ve been serving Port St. Lucie as licensed and insured electricians since 2009, and the calls we get after a storm watch goes up tell a consistent story. Homeowners assumed their generator was ready because it ran its weekly self-test. Then the storm hit, the power went out, and nothing happened. The difference between a generator that starts and one that doesn’t almost always traces back to what was or wasn’t done in the months before the season.
FPL serves the substantial majority of customers in St. Lucie County. A lot of households are counting on a generator to bridge the gap when the grid fails. Here’s what you need to know before hurricane season puts yours to the test.
Why South Florida Is Harder on Generators Than Most Places
Most generator maintenance guides are written for a general U.S. audience, and that’s a problem if you live here. South Florida presents four compounding environmental threats that accelerate generator degradation in ways a homeowner in Maryland or Houston simply doesn’t face at the same intensity.
- Coastal salt air corrodes terminals, wiring connections, and enclosure hardware faster than in inland climates, creating resistance and connectivity failures that show up at the worst possible moment.
- Year-round high humidity promotes corrosion on control boards and electrical contacts, degrading components that look fine from the outside.
- Extreme summer heat breaks down engine oil faster, shortens battery life significantly, and stresses components during the long stretch between spring and fall storms.
- Extended dormancy periods allow fuel to varnish in carburetors and fuel lines, and give fire ants and other pests time to nest inside control panels, causing shorts and blocked components when the generator tries to start.
A generator that ran reliably through October can fail the following June after sitting through a South Florida summer, even if its weekly auto-exercise cycle has been completing without interruption. That weekly cycle doesn’t prevent these threats. It just proves the engine turns over under no load for ten minutes. That’s a very different thing from sustained operation under the full weight of your home’s electrical demand during a multi-day outage.
The Auto-Exercise Cycle Doesn’t Mean Your Generator Is Ready
Most standby generators are programmed to run a self-test once a week, typically lasting 10 to 30 minutes. This keeps components lubricated and the battery charged, but it tells you very little about whether the generator is ready for a real event. The exercise cycle runs unloaded or lightly loaded. It doesn’t reveal degraded oil, a battery losing cold cranking amp capacity, a developing fault code, or a transfer switch drifting out of calibration.
Before hurricane season, go outside and observe the next weekly test in person. Listen for clean startup without hesitation or rough idling. After the cycle completes, check the control panel for any fault lights. A fault code that appeared during a prior test may have cleared automatically but still reflects an underlying issue worth addressing before a storm.
If your generator has a remote monitoring system such as Generac Mobile Link, confirm that alerts are routed to an email address someone actively checks. Fault codes can sit unacknowledged for months if notifications are going to an old address or a spam folder.
What a Pre-Season Maintenance Visit Should Cover
A professional pre-season inspection covers ground that visual checks and weekly self-tests simply can’t reach. Here’s what a thorough visit should include.
Oil & Filter Service
Generator manufacturers typically recommend an oil and filter change every 50 to 200 hours of operation, or at minimum once annually. In South Florida, summer heat accelerates oil breakdown even during short weekly exercise cycles, so a pre-season change isn’t just a good idea. It’s the baseline.
Battery Load Test
Generator batteries fail to start the engine more often than any other single component. A battery can hold enough charge to trigger a successful exercise cycle but still lack the cold cranking amps (the measure of a battery’s ability to deliver starting current) needed to crank the engine under real load. Florida heat accelerates battery degradation, and most generator batteries should be replaced every two to three years rather than waiting for a failure. A load test gives you an actual measurement, not a guess.
Air Filter Inspection
A restricted air filter causes the engine to run rich, increasing fuel consumption and reducing output. In dusty, humid conditions with pests nearby, filters can clog faster than the annual service interval suggests.
Automatic Transfer Switch Inspection
The automatic transfer switch disconnects your home from the utility grid and routes generator power to your electrical panel. If it fails, the engine can start perfectly while every light in the house stays off. Beyond that, improper transfer switch work creates a backfeed hazard for utility workers on the line, which is why this work requires a licensed electrician. A pre-season inspection should confirm that connections are tight, the switch operates automatically as designed, and there are no signs of heat damage or corrosion.
Load Bank Testing
For homeowners who want the highest confidence level, a load bank test (referenced in NFPA 110 standards for emergency power systems) simulates the actual conditions of a real outage. It confirms that the generator can sustain its rated output when heavy loads like central air conditioning compressors kick on simultaneously. A generator that passes the weekly self-test can still stall when the full house comes online. Load bank testing is the most reliable way to assess whether it won’t.
What Homeowners Can Check Between Professional Visits
There’s a clear line between what homeowners should monitor themselves and what requires a licensed technician. Knowing where that line is protects both your safety and your manufacturer warranty.
Do a monthly walkthrough of the generator pad. Look for pooling fluids under the unit, pest activity around or inside the enclosure, rust on the housing, and debris blocking the exhaust outlet or air intake vents. Carbon monoxide from a blocked exhaust is a serious hazard, so clearances should stay free of vegetation and stored materials. Also check the oil level before any extended-use period. During a multi-day outage, standby generators running continuously may need a check every 24 to 48 hours depending on load. Most units have a dipstick accessible without tools.
What homeowners shouldn’t attempt is DIY mechanical or electrical repair. Most manufacturer warranties require documented service by a qualified technician using OEM-approved parts. Repairs performed outside that standard, even well-intentioned ones, can void coverage. If something sounds wrong during the exercise cycle or a fault light appears on the control panel, call a licensed electrician. Don’t start troubleshooting with a YouTube video.
How to Vet the Electrician You Call
Generator service sits at the intersection of mechanical and electrical work, and not everyone who advertises generator repair is qualified to handle both. In Florida, electrical contractors must hold an active license issued by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR). You can verify any contractor’s license status by name or license number at myfloridalicense.com before you schedule anything. This takes about two minutes and tells you whether the person showing up at your home is actually licensed to do the work.
This matters most when the job involves the automatic transfer switch or your main electrical panel. A technician without an electrical contractor license may be qualified to service the engine but isn’t qualified to perform the electrical work safely or legally. A licensed electrician handles the full scope, from the generator through the transfer switch to the panel, without handing off the job or leaving the electrical side incomplete.
Pre-season is also the right time to call, not the week a named storm enters the Gulf. Once a storm watch goes up, service queues fill quickly. Homeowners who schedule inspections in June or early July get appointments; homeowners who wait until August sometimes don’t.
If you’re in the Port St. Lucie area and want a licensed team that has been doing this work locally since 2009, Excel Electric LLC offers generator installation and pre-season inspections with straightforward pricing and a 100% satisfaction guarantee. You can reach us at (561) 459-8825.