The start of a new year represents a clean slate for both individuals and businesses. For companies, it can act as a reset point – a time to rethink, reflect and improve everything from operations and budgets to risk planning.
This makes it the perfect time to revisit your organisation’s power infrastructure. This is not only to ensure you have the best setup for your needs and that you’re not paying too much in energy costs, but also that your emergency power contingency plans are up-to-date.
Here, we’ll take a look at useful, practical steps your business might want to take at the start of 2026 – to make sure you’re ready for whatever the year may bring.
What the New Year Means for Business Power Demand
As most businesses know, power usage patterns tend to fluctuate throughout the year. A lot of this is related to the weather, with demand for heating and lighting pushing up usage during the winter months. Some of it is related to your specific business type and industry however, where you may experience particularly busy periods followed by quieter times.
Post-Christmas, many businesses experience a ramp-up in both operations and production. Everyone is back in the office, and work for the year ahead begins in earnest. This will all be happening in the winter months of January and February too, where heating and lighting demand is highest.
This all means increased power use, alongside a higher risk of outages. Extreme weather can cause more power outages than other times of the year, whether it’s a storm blowing down power lines or local flooding affecting nearby substations.
This can potentially make it a risky time of year when it comes to power, which is why having backup solutions and plans in place is so important.
Common Power Issues Businesses Face at the Start of the Year
January typically brings with it a number of challenges and issues for businesses, including:
- The discovery of previously undetected wear or faults after winter storms
- Backup generators not working, as they haven’t been tested or maintained over the holiday shutdown
- Fuel degradation or low fuel levels
- Batteries failing due to cold temperatures
- Outdated contingency plans that no longer reflect current operations
- Increased call-outs and reactive repairs.
One of the main reasons this is a tricky time of year is because the pre-Christmas period is typically a very busy one for many businesses. The focus may be on fulfilling orders and getting essential tasks done before the holiday shutdown, and winter preparedness tasks are neglected.
It’s understandable and very common, but having a strategy in place earlier in the year can help to prevent vital checks being missed.
Why the New Year Is the Right Time to Review Your Power Setup
With December typically being chaotic and busy for many organisations, it’s a good idea to schedule in a power setup review early in the new year.
It gives you a strategic planning window, in which to look at key things like budget allocation, existing infrastructure and backup power solutions. You may want to upgrade equipment, install a new backup solution or look into generator hire for peak periods where both demand and the risk of outages is highest.
If you’re not sure whether a power review should be a priority, consider this – planned upgrades are usually much more expensive than emergency fixes.
Being proactive and planning ahead for worst-case scenarios could save you a considerable sum in the long run. It’s certainly preferable to making reactive, emergency-driven decisions. It could prevent unexpected downtime and reputational damage throughout the year, as well as improving the overall resilience of the business.
Power Checks to Carry Out at the Start of the Year
So, what should you be looking at in your new year power review? Here are some of the essential checks you should consider:
- Inspecting primary power connections
- Testing backup generators under real-life critical loads
- Verifying automatic transfer switch (ATS) operation
- Checking fuel quality, storage levels and reviewing refuelling schedules
- Reviewing UPS systems and checking battery health
- Confirming maintenance schedules are up to date
- Reassessing critical load and operational priorities in an emergency
- Reviewing and updating power-related contingency plans.
It’s also a good opportunity to update your staff on emergency protocols, so they’re clear on who does what and what steps should be taken in a crisis. A regular refresher is important both for safety and to ensure everything runs smoothly in a real-life emergency situation.
How Pleavin Power Supports Businesses at the Start of the Year
Our experts here at Pleavin Power can help your business start the year off on the right foot.
We can ensure your power infrastructure is ready for the year ahead, through expert assessments, site surveys and contingency planning. We design, deliver and install tailored backup power solutions, so that critical operations are always supported in case of outages.
You can rely on us for end-to-end support, whether it’s generator hire or installation, maintenance and servicing, load testing, fuel cleaning, multi-site solutions or 24/7 emergency support. Whatever your business needs, we’re here for you in 2026 and beyond.
