When Hurricane Sandy caused a loss of power last fall, South Whitehall used its 20-year-old generator to keep township offices going until electricity was restored.

However, that generator has serious limitations, Public Works Manager Bob Ibach explained.

"It can provide only the most basic requirements to keep us somewhat functional," he said. "It supplies power for minimal lighting and the fuel pumps but not enough to keep us functional during an outage."

He said portable generators can be brought in to help things along but have cords on the floor causing a safety issue and other disadvantages.

"We have emergency services, police, administration and public works here," Ibach said. "We need to be functional in almost anything."

Although $150,000 was budgeted to purchase a new emergency generator, bids came in $25,000 higher.

At the April 17 commissioners' meeting, Director of Administration Tony Ganguzza reported some details and expenses surfaced that were not available in the original approval of the project.

Ganguzza provided a list of costs involved with the generator. The unit itself is $84,000, while $21,000 is needed for the transfer switch, $64,000 for installation, $4,100 for engineering, and the remainder for permits and inspections.

The public works department will provide the concrete pad for the new equipment, a $7,000 deduction from the original $71,000 installation bid.

The generator will be enclosed in a steel box.

Ibach said the new generator, which is substantially larger than the older one, will supply power for heating and air-conditioning, features unavailable in the existing unit.

When a power outage occurs, the entire electrical service of the municipal complex will transfer to the generator with only a 30-second delay.

The township has $25,000 remaining in its salt account from the winter that can be shifted through the public works department to cover the generator project budgeted shortfall.

Installation of the new system will take about one week.

The existing generator still works and may be used at one of the township water stations, Ibach said.