Add control for natural gas generator set

I live in Southern California near the coast. My electric utility, Southern California Edison, bills my electric usage using a baseline rate that was established probably 50 years ago. Our weather here is cool enough that we usually don't need air conditioning, hence this baseline is ridiculously low. With all the new electric devices, my bill is consistently 200% over the baseline usage, which is a very high rate. My bill is typically $250 per month. My gas bill is only $50 per month as gas is very cheap.

I am loooking into the idea of installing a pad mounted natural gas generator to not only provide emergency power during outages, but to also reduce peak power to lower my usage to near baseline levels. Cummins Onan make some models that look promising.

I know it would take many years to offset the cost of this installation, but if you are going to install an emergency generator anyway for emergencies, why not use it for reducing your monthly bill. Having this generator would also enhance the resale value of the home.

My question is, have you looked into the ability of using your system to activate the generator when the electric usage is approaching over baseline useage? Cost of the gas and consumption as well as maintenance rates for the gen set could also be factored in. The transfer switch would need to be controlled, but it is really not much different than a solar system.