New Always Ready Guide Helps Restaurant Operators Prepare for Unexpected Utility Disruptions

October 21, 2025

Annual guide from the National Restaurant Association helps optimize crisis response to cut losses and recover more quickly

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington, D.C. (Oct. 8, 2025)-Restaurants are dependent on electricity, gas, and water - utilities keep the equipment and appliances running, allow for the food to stay fresh, and power credit card payment systems. Even a brief loss of electricity, gas, or water can bring restaurant operations to a standstill, resulting in food waste, equipment damage, and lost revenue. In fact, the U.S. Department of Energy estimates that electrical outages alone cost American businesses around $150 billion per year.

Today, the National Restaurant Association released its latest annual crisis preparedness guide, Always Ready: Utility Disruptions. The guide outlines essential steps for restaurant operators to prepare for and recover from a utility outage, as well as critical actions to take while an outage is underway.

"Utilities are crucial to nearly every aspect of a restaurant's operations, making it critical for operators to have a plan to protect their customers, team, and business," said Michelle Korsmo, President & CEO of the National Restaurant Association. "This year's Always Ready guide helps operators navigate the uncertainty of unexpected utility disruptions - whether electricity, gas, or water - to minimize impact on their business margins. The more they can plan ahead, and be nimble during and following an outage, the quicker they can return to service."

The guide provides operators with actionable steps to take before, during, and after an outage along with considerations for evaluating risk. The guide includes:

• Assembling a crisis management team
• Supplies needed on hand
• Insurance considerations
• Short-term and long-term outage planning for electrical outages
• Step-by-step considerations by type of disruption, including:
  • Natural gas leak
  • Water service
  • Broken water pipe
  • Boil water advisory
  • Safe recovery protocols

"Communities look to restaurants for stability and comfort in times of uncertainty and disaster. The Association is committed to creating industry-specific disaster preparedness guides to help operators recover as quickly as possible when the unexpected happens, so they can be there when their community needs them the most," said Korsmo.

Click here to download the Always Ready: Utility Disruptions guide, supported by Resy. Also download previous Always Ready preparation guides for natural disasters, fire, and foodborne illness outbreaks to be ready when crisis happens.

About the National Restaurant Association

Founded in 1919, the National Restaurant Association is the leading business association for the restaurant industry, which comprises more than 1 million restaurant and foodservice outlets and a workforce of 15.7 million employees. Together with 52 State Associations, we are a network of professional organizations dedicated to serving every restaurant through advocacy, education, and food safety. We sponsor the industry's largest trade show (National Restaurant Association Show); leading food safety training and certification program (ServSafe); unique career-building high school program (the NRAEF's ProStart). For more information, visit Restaurant.org and find @WeRRestaurants on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Vanessa Sink [email protected] (202) 331-5900