Like a lot of homeowners, Dimitrios Tsipouras worries about the food in his freezer when the power fails. Unlike most homeowners, he's in for a heck of a hit if the electricity doesn't quickly snap back.

This summer, a blackout sparked by a passing storm lasted more than 12 hours at the pizza shop he runs below his Wilmington, Del., home, depriving him of a day's business and leaving him with $8,000 worth of spoiled meat.

"I'm back on my bills because I threw all the food out," said Tsipouras, 59, who has run Lucy's Pizza & Restaurant for more than 30 years.

In this stormy season, he wasn't the first business owner to face such losses, and won't be the last to discover there is limited recourse for seeking restitution.

Power companies are not legally bound to reimburse businesses when the electric failure is caused by unavoidable events such as storms, accidents or even animals. Emergency loans usually become available only when the state or federal government declares an emergency or disaster. Insurance policies offer only limited compensation.

"The options for the small-business owner are limited. Very limited," said Clinton Tymes, state director of the University's Delaware's Small Business Development Center.

The bleak situation brightens a bit, though, if the owner can establish that the power failure came as a result of some negligence by the utility.

Businesses also can protect themselves against loss by purchasing insurance. Most standard property policies specifically exclude power failure, unless the customer requests the policy include a "utility services direct damage endorsement," said John Yasik, president of Poland & Sullivan Insurance.

Another type of supplemental coverage, called business interruption insurance, compensates businesses for lost income if workers must vacate the premises because of disaster-related damage that is covered under the property policy, such as a fire. But the coverage generally does not extend to utility service interruption, according to the American Bar Association.

In some cases, larger insurers will include spoilage coverage — up to $5,000, no deductible — as part of a "business owner package," or "BOP," Yasik said.