Read this once and you'll understand the whole generator business.
A standby generator sits outside the house. To work, it needs two completely separate hookups:
The unit wires into the house panel through an automatic transfer switch, so when the utility drops the generator takes over. This is us. Licensed electrician, electrical permit.
A natural gas or propane line has to be run to the unit and pressure tested. This is a licensed plumber. Separate permit, separate inspection. An electrician legally cannot do it.
No gas line, no generator. The machine is a lawn ornament without fuel. That is the entire reason plumbers matter to us.
Scott County publishes every permit it issues. Here is a real generator job — note it is two permits, by two companies, and the county ties them together:
Same house. Two trades. Every single time. We pulled five months of permits and every generator job in the county followed this pattern.
Because we now sell the units and do the electrical. That means we can take a whole job — except the gas line. We need a plumber on standby for every install.
And it works the other way too. These plumbers are already doing gas lines on other people's generator jobs. They know which homeowners are buying before anyone else does. A plumber who likes us sends us work.
Pulled from county permit records, May–September 2026. These are business lines — no Do Not Call restrictions.
| Company | Phone | Generator gas jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Watson Plumbing & Mechanical | (309) 788-1100 | 5 |
| Unique Mechanical — Blue Grass | (563) 326-3149 | 3 |
| Tier One Plumbing QC | (309) 269-8453 | 2 |
| C. Ewert Plumbing — Davenport | (563) 322-3222 | 1 |
| JL Brady Company — Moline | (309) 865-5564 | 1 |
That is the whole call. You are offering work, asking two questions, and finding out their pricing — which we need for our own quotes anyway.
One rule: never ask a plumber to drop the electrician they already use. Ask to be the overflow — the crew they call when their guy is three weeks out. That is an easy yes, and overflow becomes primary once we show up on time.