Most homeowners find us because something forced the question — a panel with no spare spaces, an insurer asking about Federal Pacific, or a new AC or EV charger the service can’t feed. We are a licensed electrical and mechanical contractor, so the panel and the equipment it feeds are one contract. Before you talk to anyone, get a range: our panel upgrade cost calculator prices your address, free.
What It Involves
People say “panel upgrade” and picture the breaker box. On most Tucson homes the box is the smallest part of it. Going from a 100-amp to a 200-amp service means the meter socket, the conductors between the meter and the panel, and often the mast and weatherhead all have to carry the new rating too — and the grounding electrode system has to be brought up to current code while the service is open.
That is also why it is permitted, inspected work with the utility involved. Tucson Electric Power or Trico pulls the meter so the work can happen and re-sets it after the jurisdiction signs off. Anyone quoting a panel swap that skips the permit is quoting a different job than the one that passes inspection — and an unpermitted service change is the kind of thing that surfaces later, at closing.
New load center sized for the service, breakers to match, and a directory that reflects what is actually on each circuit. Replacement work triggers current AFCI and GFCI requirements on the circuits it touches.
Our electrical services →The meter socket, service-entrance conductors, and mast have to be rated for the new service. On older Tucson homes this is frequently the part that decides the scope and the schedule.
TEP standards reference →Ground rods, the water-pipe bond, and the neutral-ground separation get corrected to current code while the service is open. It is invisible work that inspectors look at closely.
In-house engineering →Do You Actually Need One
A panel upgrade is a real expense and it is not always the answer. These are the cases where it usually is — and the one where it often isn’t.
Every slot is full and the circuit you need has nowhere to land. Sometimes a subpanel solves this for far less; sometimes the service is genuinely at its limit. The load calculation decides, not the empty slots.
These panels have a documented history of breakers that fail to trip, and insurers increasingly ask about them. If your home was built between 1974 and 1989 it is worth checking — see our FPE and Zinsco page.
A heat pump, an EV charger, a casita, a pool. New load is the most common legitimate trigger, and it is the one where the arithmetic is unambiguous either way.
NEC 220.87 lets an existing dwelling’s load be calculated from its actual measured demand rather than a worst-case estimate. Homes that look undersized on paper often are not. We would rather run that calculation and tell you no.
One Contract
The most common reason a Tucson home needs more service is a new air conditioner or heat pump. That job normally involves two companies — an HVAC contractor for the equipment and an electrician for the circuit — and the gap between them is where schedules slip and responsibility gets vague.
Arizona Electrical Solutions holds the electrical licence (ROC CR-11) and the air conditioning and refrigeration licence (ROC CR-39) in house. The panel, the disconnect, the circuit, and the equipment are one contract with one contractor accountable for all of it.
Permits & Utility
A service upgrade is permitted and inspected work, and the Tucson area is not one jurisdiction. City of Tucson, unincorporated Pima County, Marana, Oro Valley and Sahuarita each run their own permitting, their own fee schedule, and their own inspection queue. The code edition in force is not identical everywhere either.
The utility side matters just as much. Most of the metro is Tucson Electric Power; parts of the county are Trico. Either way the meter has to be pulled and re-set around the work, and that sequencing — not the panel itself — is usually what sets your timeline. We handle the permit and the utility coordination as part of the job.
Our Own Work
These are our crews’ own photographs of finished residential service work in and around Tucson — not stock images. Addresses, house numbers and utility account details are deliberately not shown.
A directory that names what is actually on each breaker. It costs us twenty minutes and it is the thing you will be glad of in five years.
Neutrals and grounds on their own bars, conductors run square to the breakers. An inspector can read this panel in a glance, and so can the next electrician.
Decades of Tucson sun on original service equipment. Rust at the enclosure and a meter base past its life is a common starting point here.
The company that quotes the work does the work. That is the norm on our commercial jobs and it does not change because the address is a house.
Proof of Work
Every photograph below is our own crew’s work on a real Tucson-area home — no stock images. Addresses, house numbers and utility account details are deliberately not shown. This is what we mean when we say we self-perform residential service work.
FAQ
It depends on your service size, what the meter and service entrance already are, and which jurisdiction you are in. Rather than quote a number that would not fit your house, we built a calculator that prices your actual address: the Tucson panel upgrade cost calculator. It uses researched Tucson-area market rates and published permit fees and utility tariffs, and it tells you which it is showing. It is a range to plan against, not a bid — a bid needs eyes on the panel.
Yes. A panel or service change is permitted and inspected work in every jurisdiction in the Tucson area, and the utility will not re-set the meter until the inspection passes. Unpermitted electrical work also tends to surface at the worst moment — during a sale, or when an insurer asks. You can see what has and has not been permitted at your address with our free property permit lookup.
The outage is the part of the day the meter is out, not the whole job. The exact window depends on what the service entrance needs and on when TEP or Trico can get to you, so we give you a realistic window once we have seen the equipment rather than a number over the phone.
Often 100 is enough. NEC 220.87 allows an existing home’s demand to be calculated from actual measured usage instead of a worst-case estimate, and homes that look undersized on paper frequently are not. If the calculation says your existing service carries the new load, we will tell you that — it is a cheaper answer and it is the right one.
That is usually a Federal Pacific Stab-Lok or a Zinsco, common in Tucson homes built between 1974 and 1989. Our FPE and Zinsco page covers what the concern actually is and how to check your own address. If it turns out you have one, replacing it is a normal panel change.
Both. We hold ROC CR-11 for electrical and ROC CR-39 for air conditioning and refrigeration, so a heat pump replacement and the service work it needs are one contract with one contractor responsible. See our HVAC services.
Yes — unincorporated Pima County, Marana, Oro Valley, Sahuarita and the surrounding area. The jurisdiction changes the permitting and the fee schedule, not whether we can do the work. Our full service area covers the state.
Related Services
One contractor carries the whole scope. See every service we self-perform.
Panelboard, switchboard, and service-entrance upgrades with load calcs, TEP coordination, and phased shutdowns.
Equipment, ductwork, refrigerant piping, controls, ventilation, and start-up.
Solar PV, battery storage, interconnection, EV charging, and efficiency retrofits.
Power system design, photometrics, studies, and permit-ready documents.
Run your address through the cost calculator first — it is free and it does not ask for your details. If the range makes sense, send us a photo of your panel and what you are planning, and we will scope it properly.
Request a Bid Call (520) 308-6235