Normalise backup
For many sites, generator hours are the plan, not the contingency. Capex, maintenance, fuel logistics and theft risk belong in the base case.
Hidden operating load
Unstable power changes labour productivity, cold-chain spoilage and machine downtime. Those effects rarely sit in the same spreadsheet cell as ‘energy cost’.
What to collect
Hour logs, fuel invoices, and a frank view from facility managers beat a utility tariff printout. If the data is messy, that mess is the finding.
Design implication
Sometimes the right answer is a smaller footprint, a different process technology, or a location with better embedded generation — not a hope that the grid improves on your timetable.