Cost of service upgrade

10 years ago

We are in the process of upgrading to a 400 Amp electric service. We currently have a service drop, and the new service will be an underground lateral. The ZIP code is 94022 (northern California). The distance from transformer pole to the meter is 150' -- a straight line)

I got a quote from an electrician and he wants $8K for this job. This looks like an insane quote for what he will do: All trenching and backfilling will be done by us. I will get the permit. The cables will be provided by PG&E (utility company) and PG&E will also pull the cable. Electrician will provide the conduits (3" conduit for electric service lines + 2 additional conduits for cable and phone lines), boxes, fitting etc. And a 400 Amp main panel (Square D Model #: SU3040D400CN). He will also remove the old panel and make connections to the new one etc.

Is $8K a reasonable price for what he will do? According to what I can find online, the 400 Amp panel is ~ $700 (at Lowes). The conduits & fittings, at most, may cost $1000. Add another $300 for items I may have missed. ~$2K material cost and $8K quote does not look reasonable to me. Am I missing something?

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Comments (9)

btharmy
10 years ago
When you hire a professional to do the job, you are not just hiring some unskilled day laborer for $10 per hour. He also has to pay for his:

-work truck
-gas and insurance for the truck
-tens of thousands of dollars worth of tools to be able to run a contracting business
-insurance
-license
-continuing education classes
-safety equipment
-lawyer
-accountant
-cell phone with data
-phone, gas, electric, water, sewer, and other utilities at his shop
-fund a decent retirement

The list is nearly endless.

My suggestion is to get 3 quotes and go with your gut on who you think you would like to work with. Who you would feel comfortable letting into your home for a couple of days. I wouldn't let most of the low ball bottom feeder "electricians" in my yard, let alone in my house.
Ron Natalie
10 years ago
Yes, alas, we can't give a reading on the price. Labor and other operating expenses is highly regional. Getting bids and REFERENCES on the people you wish to hire is advisable.

The cost of materials is usually a tiny amount of the total cost. The amount of effort to just replace the panel is not trivial. We just saw a quote of around $2000 here for that labor alone (no service upgrade, nothing move, just replace old panel with a modern one).
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If he doesn't care to draw more than 200A, he doesn't need to do anything. The 200A main breaker as disconnect is not larger than the service fed in. As pointed out by joefixit, the worst thing that is going to happen is that someone tries to run from the new meter base with wires too big to fit the lugs on the old panel. The easy out is to just use smaller wires (of sufficient ampacity for the 200A disconnect).
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Service up grades in most States require the homeowner to be responsible from the weather head down. When considering upgrades it is better to remove any splicing in attics, crawl spaces and any other place that those splice may be located at. A splice is a weak link in the wiring and with the amperage involved it is not a good idea ever to splice. Electrical power will always take the least resistance to ground if properly grounded with a 8' ground rod or rods. When updating the Meter Base and Main Breaker panel consider whole house surge protection to be placed into the 1st Main Breaker panel not out laying subpanels. Also consider ATS (automatic transfer switch) for auto start fueled generators and alternative electrical energy like solar and wind. The ATS will not backfeed utility grid power when it goes down from fault due to storms or other grid issues. But the ATS will feed onsite requirements as designed to do so or until the grid power comes back on and then the ATS once again does its job and shuts the generator cycle down. There are grid quality off the shelf products in today's market from various vendors that are designed to be mixed and matched (battery banking, inverter power, solar, wind) to form your own grid quality electrical power. So as for the cost of what it takes to upgrade a electrical service what are your onsite wattage needs and voltages? Along with a host of other considerations to account for. Alternative electrical power is an investment that pays for itself and is safe, reliable and efficient. the old days are gone when you had to wait 10 seconds for the fueled auto start generator to kick in. High end grid quality inverter power now is so fast that clock or computer resets from electrical power transfers is not necessary. www.dbelectric.us
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Everything from the panel to the POCO connection would need to be changed. A WILD guess at cost would $3500-$4000.
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brickeyee
10 years ago
" We just saw a quote of around $2000 here for that labor alone"Sounds like a bargain just about anywhere.

EVERY CIRCUIT has to be moved.

How many fuses or breakers do you have?

Some will NOT reach most of the time.

Now a junction box has to be added to extend the wires.
texasredhead
10 years ago
I have a $250,000 home in Dallas that would probably be three times that in northern California. We charge $2,500 plus equipment for a service upgrade in Dallas. Based on the California differential, $8,000 sounds like a bargain.
petey_racer
10 years ago
Tex, I wouldn't waste your "breath". I highly doubt ylmzm has even been back to read the replies.
Yet another in a long line of post-it and forget-it's.
christripp
10 years ago
>I will get the permit. The cables will be provided by PG&E (utility company) and PG&E will also pull the cable.I realize the poster may not come back but have a question about the above for you friends to the South of me (in Canada here)
Here a homeowner can not take out a permit (unless they are doing the work themselves) only the Electrical Contractor can. Is this actually different in the US, or perhaps State to State?
The other question is, our Hydro company charges a fee for disconnect/connect and to run cable underground. For a 400 amp service it would be a large one to include the cable. Recently the Hydro company just charged $6000 for a 350 amp underground service on one of our jobs. In the US is this something not charged by the Utility or is there a possibility the posters Electrical Contractor is including that fee in his quote?
Just curious as to the differences is all.
Ron Natalie
10 years ago
Actually, the owner IS the one who takes out permits (though the contractor can do it in the name of the owner) here. Just because you obtain the permit doesn't mean you are doing the work. The comments indicate that PGE and is pulling new service cables to the house (I can assume there is a fee involved for this, just separate to the price the poster is concerned about paying to HIS electrician).
christripp
10 years ago
Ah, thank you ronnatalie. Here the Elec Contractor takes out the permit IN the customers name but using the EC's account number with the Electrical Safety Authority and the EC is then the one responsible for paying for the permit and calling for inspections. The Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) is also the body that issues Licenses to Electrical Contractors allowing them to work in each City/Province. The only time a homeowner can take a permit out and pay for it directly/call for inspections, is when they themselves are doing the work. They are then NOT allowed to hire anyone to help them (though they often try to get away with it:)
Interesting to learn the different rules, from one Country to another!
hendricus
10 years ago
In our area of Michigan everyone has to get their own permit. Plumbing rough in was done by contractor, finish hook ups by owner, 2 permits. Move elec meter one permit for electrician, all inside work by owner another permit. Elec co. charges $6 to $10 a foot for buried cable. Includes trenching and back filling.

Cost of service upgrade

Comments (9)

btharmy

Ron Natalie

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brickeyee

texasredhead

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