Atlas Oil's Emergency Fueling Solutions Shares Hot Spots For Blackouts And Tips For Preparing For One

TAYLOR, Mich., July 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- As we approach the 10-year anniversary of the 2003 Northeast Blackout that left 30 million Americans without power—the worst in our country's history—Emergency Fuel Solutions (EFS), a division of Taylor, Mich.-based Atlas Oil, encourages business executives in high-risk areas to plan ahead for unexpected outages to avoid any operational downtime or lost revenue.

"As we enter the height of hurricane season, it is easy to associate power outages almost exclusively with coastal storms; yet in 2012, of the top 5 states reporting the most power outages, not one was in the Southeast," said Bob Kenyon, executive vice president of Atlas Oil Company. Those states, according to data from Eaton Corporation, are: California with the most (510 blackouts), followed by New York (133), Texas (131), Michigan (125) and New Jersey (119).

"Many non-coastal businesses, particularly in the Midwest, don't see themselves as at risk from blackouts," Kenyon added. "But in the 26 states we serviced with emergency fuel last year we saw outages caused by everything from faulty equipment to fires to pesky animals; a reminder that disasters can strike anywhere, anytime ultimately affecting a business negatively in the long term."

The Atlas Emergency Fueling team recommends that all CEOs, CFOs and facility managers put a plan in place that will insulate them from the financial risks of unnecessary downtime. The plan should address:

• Backup power sources and supplies: In addition to a generator, businesses need a fuel supplier with guaranteed delivery services to ensure continual operations in the event that fuel is not easily accessible.
• Crisis communication plan: Determine in advance who will be responsible for communicating the power status to employees, clients, customers and business partners. To save time, build e-mail templates or press releases in advance that can be modified to address the issue at hand.
• Conduct training and testing: If your plan involves employees working from non-affected locations, train them on how to be most efficient and test their remote access to any critical business drives.

For information on EFS' Generator Assurance and Fleet Assurance plans, visit http://www.atlasoil.com/Tankwagon/Emergency-Fueling. More tips for emergency preparation can be found at www.ready.gov.

About Atlas Oil's Emergency Fueling Solutions
Emergency Fuel Solutions (EFS), a division of Atlas Oil Company, specializes in emergency fueling for mission-critical businesses including: hospitals, data centers, utility companies, food retailers and financial centers. EFS is the national market leader in generator and fleet insurance plans that guarantee priority fuel delivery during a variety of business interruptions such as hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding and power outages. Based in Taylor, Mich., EFS currently services 26 states and is backed by Atlas' extensive and diversified supply portfolio. For more information visit www.atlasoil.com/Tankwagon/emergency-fueling.

SOURCE Atlas Oil's Emergency Fueling Solutions