First, thanks to everyone for taking the time to comment and offer opinions.

Second, for the person who is dealing with major storm outages . . . we had those a bunch on Guam too, so your point about the grilling parties brought back memories. One thing that we just discovered (and are planning on incorporating when we build the new structure here) is larger covered back up generators that run on large propane tanks and are hardwired into your house. So if the power goes off, it takes like thirty seconds to get things fired up, which happens automatically, and you just plug in everything as normal. Apparently they have a much more stable electricity flow than the regular add the gas a bit at a time type of generators. At least according to my very limited research. I've seen  / heard of them in the 2 to 5 grand range. Doable when building or with a tax return and then you only have to pay for the propane when things go out.

I'd be interested in any other information people might have about these.