California and the CARB (California Air Resources Board) approved a measure that newly manufactured (Model Year 2024 and newer) small engines, such as those found in leaf blowers, lawn mowers, Portable Generators and other outdoor power equipment need to meet stricter standards for emissions by 40-90% based on the product type. With that being said, all of the items listed above need to be zero emission by 2028.
How does this affect Portable Generators?
Portable Generators currently meet the existing emissions standards that were made/manufactured prior to 2023. However, there are no units in the market currently that will meet the 2024 emissions standards. This poses a threat to emergency power and backup power as there will be no off-the shelf solution until manufacturing can catch up to the changes and thresholds required by CARB. In the event of a wide spread outage millions of Californians could be without power and unable to purchase a Generator due to these new requirements. Californians can still operate their equipment if it was purchased from a model year prior to 2024. As of now, there will be no “ban” on using older, existing models purchased in the future. HEOMAITO generators will update 2024 emissions standards after the new CARB laws passed.