Central
Battery backup and standby generators for the Worcester County suburbs and hill towns, from Shrewsbury and Holden to Princeton, Sterling, Bolton and Harvard.
Central Massachusetts was among the hardest-hit areas in the December 2008 ice storm. The National Weather Service recorded half an inch to an inch of ice across the region, up to an inch and a half in places, and said many northeast-facing slopes in Worcester County iced far more than the land around them. Restoring power took weeks in some areas.
Boston Backup Power, a division of Boston Automations in Norwood, designs and supports RoseWater Energy systems, Savant Power and Generac and Kohler standby generators, with licensed electricians and gas fitters making the connections. In the hill towns, the conversation usually starts with the well and the heat.
Authorized RoseWater Energy Dealer. Updated .
Ice storms and outages in Worcester County
In 2008, all of Holden lost power for four days and some areas for more than two weeks. Some Sterling residents were out for up to 14 days, Bolton had more than 1,500 people without power, and the south end of Harvard was out for over a week.
Many towns here run their own municipal light plants, including Shrewsbury, Holden, Princeton, Sterling, Boylston, Paxton and West Boylston, while Bolton and Harvard are on National Grid. The municipal plants still depend on transmission from outside. Holden's resilience report calls its two National Grid feeds problematic, and Princeton's says a single line supplies the whole town.
Two of those utilities now run their own grid batteries. Sterling's, since 2016, keeps the police station and dispatch running in an outage, and Holden's, since 2024, lowers the utility's costs. Neither carries individual homes.
Homes in Central Massachusetts
These are mostly single-family towns. More than 90 percent of occupied homes in Princeton are single-family houses, more than 89 percent in Holden and more than 70 percent in Shrewsbury, according to the regional planning commission's hazard plans.
Water decides a lot. Princeton is almost entirely on private wells, Bolton's drinking water wells are privately owned, about a fifth of Sterling is on wells, and Harvard regulates its private wells. When the power goes out in those houses, the water goes with it.
Wells, snow and where the equipment goes
On a well, the pump goes on the backup plan, and the generator or battery has to handle its starting load. We read the pump's nameplate on the site visit.
RoseWater HUBs are designed for indoor installation in a garage or basement without air conditioning, and in a Central Massachusetts garage that drops well below freezing we confirm the spot with RoseWater's engineers first. Savant's Power Storage 20 is rated down to 32 degrees Fahrenheit, so it belongs in a heated space. A generator pad needs to sit clear of snow sliding off the roof, with a propane tank the delivery truck can reach in January.
Cabinet sizes and specs for each system are on the HUB20, HUB40 and 3-Phase pages.
Homes we design for in Central Massachusetts
Homes on private wells
Hill-town houses in Princeton, Bolton, Harvard and parts of Sterling, where an outage stops the water as well as the heat.
Municipal light plant towns
Shrewsbury, Holden, Princeton and Sterling homes, where the town utility handles any solar and battery interconnection.
Larger rural properties
Houses with barns, outbuildings and long drives, where a standby generator and a battery together cover a week-long outage.
Newer subdivisions
Homes with underground service in towns like Shrewsbury, protected from falling trees but not from failures upstream.
Towns we serve in Central Massachusetts
- Shrewsbury
- Holden
- Princeton
- Sterling
- Bolton
- Harvard
- Boylston
- West Boylston
- Paxton
- Northborough
- Westborough
- Grafton
- Lancaster
- Berlin
If you are in Worcester County and not listed, ask. Most of the county is a reasonable drive from Norwood.
How a project runs in Central Massachusetts
Central Massachusetts is a reasonable drive west from our shop in Norwood, so we schedule site visits like any other project. We coordinate the licensed electrician and, for generators, a licensed gas fitter and the propane supplier. For a RoseWater system, we register the project with RoseWater's engineering team and work with its technicians at commissioning.
Build your Power Plan
Use the Power Plan on this site or call us. You pick what has to stay on, from the network and lighting control to the well pump and the wine room.
Site visit
We look at your electrical service, the main panel and subpanels, and the rooms that could hold the cabinets. On new builds we work from the single-line diagram, riser diagrams and panel schedules.
Design with RoseWater
We register the project with RoseWater's engineering team, size the HUB and battery storage to your plan, and send you a written proposal.
Electrical tie-in
A licensed electrician connects the system at the main panel. We coordinate your electrician or bring in one we trust, along with any generator or solar partner.
Commissioning
RoseWater technicians deliver the cabinets and commission the system on site with us. Commissioning by RoseWater-trained personnel starts the three-year warranty.
Integration and support
We set up monitoring and alerts, tie the system into your home's other systems, and stay your first call for service and warranty questions.
The first step is the Power Plan. If you would rather talk it through, use the contact form or call (781) 333-8003. You can also read about our backup power installation and design services and whole-home battery backup for homes.
Standby generators in Central Massachusetts
We also install Generac and Kohler home standby generators in Central Massachusetts as an authorized partner of both brands. A licensed electrician and a licensed gas fitter make the connections, and most installs run $7,500 to $20,000.
- Standby generator installation
- Generac generators
- Kohler generators
- What a generator costs
- Sizing a generator
- Get a Generator Quote
Savant Power in Central Massachusetts
As an authorized Savant dealer, we install Savant Power in Central Massachusetts: smart modules in your panel that show and control every circuit, with Savant battery storage for backup. Savant Power Modules typically run $2,000 to $10,000. Savant battery backup runs $10,000 to more than $100,000, depending on the size of the house and what you want backed up.
Questions about backup power in Central Massachusetts
Do you serve Worcester County?
Do you serve Worcester County?
Yes. Shrewsbury, Holden, Princeton, Sterling, Bolton, Harvard and the towns around them are part of our service area.
Our town has its own light plant and a battery. Do we still need backup?
Our town has its own light plant and a battery. Do we still need backup?
Sterling's battery backs up the police station and dispatch, and Holden's lowers the utility's costs. Neither carries homes through an outage. A battery or generator at your house does that.
We are on a well. What should we back up first?
We are on a well. What should we back up first?
The well pump, the heating system, the refrigerator and a few lights. From there it is a choice between essential circuits and the whole house.
Plan for the Next Ice Storm
Tell us about the well, the heat and the systems you rely on. We will recommend RoseWater, Savant Power or a standby generator, and size it for a long outage.