About Us
Since we opened our doors for business early in 2007, each and every one of our employees strives to meet or exceed our customer's expectations. We
are constantly looking for ways to save you, our customer, both time and money. We are a local Niagara
business, responding to local needs with global solutions; we are happy to answer questions
about what we are doing so that you too are informed - there are no "trade secrets".
And so, we look forward to doing business with you.
Company Bio
Erie Generator was born out of two things: Fort Erie's Friday the 13th blizzard
in October of 2006 and changes to the regulations surrounding procuring electrical inspection permits.
For those of you not familiar with the Friday the 13th storm or the consequences (because it was very localized),
let me briefly state the nature of the storm. A very early lake effect snow storm dumped up to
2 feet (60cm) of wet snow onto trees that had not yet dropped their leaves. Many of these
heavily burdened trees had limbs broken off them, limbs that downed the power lines under them.
After the snow came freezing rain: those that were not hit by downed branches were hit when
the main Canadian Niagara Power lines came down as a result of ice and high winds. Many Fort Erie
residents were without power for 3 or more days; some had no power for 8 days! Then, it all melted,
flooding basements - even the people with battery back-up sump pumps started having problems
by the second day without power - many people scrambled to try to find a generator to buy, to
try to avert the flood and the associated damage.
Right around that time, new Government of Ontario regulations required that anyone who wanted to be engaged in
a business doing electrical work be registered as of January 1, 2007 - the registration included
a requirement for commercial liability insurance, as well as valid and current Certificates of Qualification
for the trade of Electician. With the high cost of completing the registration, as an electrician
who wanted to keep options open for myself and my family, I decided that I could no longer afford to
do most of my electrical work as a volunteer: instead, I needed to start making money as an electrician
(I have a day job that pays most of the bills). Consequently, late in 2006, Erie Emergency Electric
Equipment was born. (We are registered with the Electrical Contractors Registration Agency
division of the Electrical Safety Authority (ECRA/ESA) as #7003418.)
Of course, as with any business, it's all 
about the crack team that you assemble - here is our
Chief Technical Officer working at a party - go figure - some of us love our jobs way too much!
So stick around and let me tell you a few things about some of the main people here.
CEO Bio
The CEO, a.k.a. "the big boss", has been in the workforce for the past 34 years, with his entrepreneurial
roots in the newpaper industry. He followed that up with a stint as a rock star, a petrolium transfer
technician, a university student, a recording artist, a college student, an electrical apprentice, an industrial maintenance electrician,
a post-grad student, an educator, a general contractor, a project manager, until, through a dint of corporate
finangling, arrived in his current position at the top of the corporate ladder. Fortunately, the ladder is
extremely short:
he is also concurrently at the bottom of the corporate ladder, so the company employees don't have
to worry about there not being a line of communication open; people are heard and listened to,
from the newest employee to the CEO!
Our CEO has also inspired our company motto, "do it right the first time", by doing exactly that -
not being satisfied until the job is done right from the very beginning. As a corporate leader,
he is not one to sit around - he is willing and able to "show the ropes" to one and all alike, from
the "probie" to the "old salt". He is willing to go the extra mile to make sure the people he is in
contact with are treated with respect and a genuine concern for their well-being.
CTO Bio
Complimenting our CEO, our Chief Technical Officer is just that: the one in charge of all
things technical. From this webpage to the status of the wheelbarrow, he is the one that is
responsible. Of course, like most CTO's, he is somewhat of an information junkie, constantly
researching to stay at the cutting edge of technical advancement while trying to avoid being
cut by it - he says he never owned a BETA VCR, even though technically they were/are superior
to the VHS VCR's.
Our CTO arrived in the job very much like the CEO: corporate maneuvering. Thirty-eight years ago,
he began to manipulate technology, though the first experience was nearly the last; it was there
that he learned his first lessons in physics, with gravity, and the conversion of kinetic energy
into other forms of energy and their effect on structures giving him his early technical lessons.
As a result of the ensuing two months with his jaw wired shut, he has been trying, somewhat unsuccessfully,
to catch up on the conversations that he missed during that time - at least, that is the excuse he uses
when he is accused of talking too much ... He
soon followed that up with experiments using various pieces of technology, quickly learning lessons
on the reasons for GFCI's and double insulated electrical equipment. Then there were the years spent
exploring the limits of traction between rubber
and various surfaces: black ice was what you got when
your boot went through the frozen surface of the "crick" into the sludge below; red ice: when you wiped
out on the tube during the ice storm and you got the nickname "Rudolph";
don't ask about yellow ice (what you get when you spill gasoline
into snow? Sure - that's it ;-)).
Over the years, personal research, as well as learning from the mistakes and succeses of others, has
brought him to the point where he understands what generator harmonics are, and how they relate to
harmonic tuning of a stringed instrument. He also has more than a passing knowledge of computer
technology and applications - he is the one that is responsible for much of the upkeep and content
of this website - though he does bow to the web guru
on some of the more arcane details of aspx.
He also tends to give way too much detail when asked a
technical question - be warned, you may get a far more detailed answer than you wanted. So, if you have any
technical questions - send him a note at andrew@eriegenerator.com:
he will make every attempt to respond within 24 hours of the receipt of your message.
Recent Milestones
New for 2008!
As an added value, new for 2008, we are pleased to announce the addition of whole house
Transient Voltage Surge Suppression (TVSS) as an option on our installations. What this does
is protect you and your electronics from damage as the power is failing, preventing your
sensitive (expensive) equipment from damaging voltage "spikes" caused by lightning or by the
collapsing of the power grid.
We are proud to announce that with the recent parity of the Loonie with the American dollar,
we were able to lower our already low prices on select equipment to match prices in the USA.
What that means for you is that you can get the Honda powered Winco PSS-12 complete with a
100A automatic transfer switch installed locally from as low as $7495 - that is an unbelievable deal!
Call us for more details - 905 329-0784 - some restrictions apply.
The recent completion of a four year long volunteer project has allowed us to spend more time
on business applications, though the past four years have given us invaluable experience in large-scale
jobs. Congratulations to the team at the Lighthouse Church of God in Chippawa for the outstanding
job you did, working diligently together to "git er done"! We were and are proud to be part of the team!
.