I have thought about employing a few generators too. Not due to power cuts, mainly due to the bill and the current kW/h consumption. Spending a good amount of money on a generator can ensure you won't get much of a problem with noise. Some generators state that they run silently (meaning it isn't louder than a normal conversation between two peeps). You could put a silent running LPG/natural gas generator in the basement or out house and not worry too much.. but I am just hypothesising