Enchanted Rock, the Houston company that provides backup electricity to commercial and industrial customers, announced it is expanding into California, sensing an opening in a state that has had to recently resort to widespread power outages to lower the risk of wild fires.

The company's decision to expand into California is a natural next step as demand increases for stable generating capacity during power outages, said Thomas McAndrew, CEO of Enchanted Rock. Enchanted Rock designs and installs natural gas powered generators so companies can continue to operate during natural disasters when the power grid goes down.

Enchanted Rock is part of a growing number of power generators that are installing backup generation for companies that don't want to lose power during natural disasters or who want to take advantage of selling power to the grid when prices are high. The number is growing so rapidly that Public Utility Commission is trying to get a better handle on exactly how many back-up generators are available to supply power during times of critical need.

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During Hurricane Harvey two years ago Enchanted Rock said that its microgrids powered a group of H-E-B stores, the large grocery chain, and Buc-ee's travel centers, the Texas-based convenience store chain,  for a continuous 105 hours. While most businesses in the area were closed due to widespread flooding, H-E-B and Buc-ee's remained open. The backup generation prevented the two companies from losing revenue and perishable inventory and boosted customer loyalty.

Enchanted Rock operates and maintains 127 microgrid sites.