Electrical panel upgrade from 100A to 200A

3 years ago

Apologies in advance for long post.

We recently remodeled our home and close to finish line. When we started this remodel our electrical panel was already 200A and hence the permit doesn't need to upgrade the electrical panel and the electrical panel stayed connected to house through out the construction.

Recently our general contractor mentioned that the panels have a PG&E seal which is missing on our panel.

Four years back when we bought the house, we hired a licensed electrician to do some repairs in the house based on the home inspection report. As a part of these repairs this electrician also replaced and upgraded our electrical panel. But looks like he never pulled the permit or involved PG&E to disconnect-reconnect the service. We had no idea at that time whats the correct procedure and assumed electrician would have followed correct procedures (assuming he was fully licensed for the work).

What should we do now ?

Option 1 : Call PG&E and explain them what happened and seek for their guidance OR

Option 2 : First get a 100A to 200A permit approved from city, then start an application of disconnect/reconnect with PG&E.

What kind of penalty PG&E can enforce in this kind of scenario ?

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Comments (4)

kudzu9
3 years ago
I'd ask the general contractor to sort this out for you. I doubt that there will be a penalty, per se. If you live in a reasonable area, the city and the utility mainly want to see you have a safe installation, not penalize you for wanting to do the right thing. The only "penalty" would be if the previous electrician didn't do the panel upgrade to code and you have to pay an electrician to do that. But that would be a good idea thing to know and take care of.
David Cary
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
I am certainly not in PG&E land and I would caution any advice regarding such from a national forum. I pay more to the city for a bigger water line but I don't pay more to my electric company for a bigger panel. I pay more to the city every month based on my impervious surface square footage but I don't pay every month for a bigger electrical panel.

But, it would be completely rational to pay your electric company for a bigger panel - both 1 time and monthly. I doubt many folks outside of PG&E land even ask their provider or tell them about work. Permiting is for government agencies for the most part - not utilities.

As an aside - I did once pay monthly electrical demand charges but it was more of an experimental program - based on peak demand over the month. It was 1/2 my bill. Completely rational but something the public may not be ready for. Panel size could be a proxy for demand.
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Jeffrey R. Grenz, General Contractor
3 years ago
Contact the electrician to discuss. < 4 years you still have leverage with a licensed CA electrical contractor if needed. Check the license on line if you don't know.

Check the city/county for permit records. This can be a random look. I recommend getting permit history for any home you own.

PGE was a mess at that time so it could be a simple mistake.
Seabornman
3 years ago
Yes, talk to electrician. Usually, installing a new panel means having the wires from the street to the house upgraded, and only the power company can do that. Unless the wires were oversized to begin with.