My whole house generator is maintained yearly by the company I purchased it from. Also it turns on every Monday & runs for 12 minutes. Everything is automatic...turning on & turning off. I replaced my old one 3 (?) years ago, which worked fine but I upgraded everything that was getting old (in my mind)
I wished more people had one. It cost me close to $10,000. The neighbor bought one too. It's not about the lights being off it's about drinking water, flushing the toilet, taking showers, doing dishes & heating your home, mine is propane cause I live in the Country.....

Folks, remember that an inexpensive power generator, even one purchased used is better than none. Available for a few hundred dollars on those internet classifieds. Just make sure they are serviced and running well. Always run outdoors and use heavy extension cords if portable units so not to monoxide a home. Objective to keep fridges/freezers cold and power basics (like phones charged) when needed. If not a continuous-duty (1800 RPM) diesel generator, then run them in intervals so as not to melt higher RPM (especially gasoline powered) engines down. Run for an hour, shut down for an hour. That also extends your fuel by reducing fuel consumption.