Electrical Panel Replacement & Upgrade in Clark County

Residential electrical panels are the main fuse box that distributes power throughout your house. Your local utility company uses this fuse box to connect your house to the local grid. The electrical panel sends the electrical power to all the circuits in your home. People can also call it a service panel, breaker box and circuit breaker panels.

Electrical panels are important to ensure the safety of your family and home. It contains circuits that will trip if there is too much of an electrical load on it. This prevents an electrical burn out and house fires.

In addition, they can help your home appliances and home electronics from power surges. It helps to create a steady flow of electricity. This will save you money and extend the equipment life of your appliances and electronics.

Panel Upgrades

Older homes generally have smaller amp panels, such as 60 or 100 amp panels. They are too small to handle the electrical loads of modern day residential equipment, such as HVAC. An undersized existing panel, could cause an electrical fire hazard. It depends on the amount of electrical load on it.

Builders construct newer homes with 200-amp panels. Generally, this is more than enough amperage to safely handle the electrical load in a typical home. Some larger homes with a heavy electrical load, may require two 200 amp panels.

Recalled Panels

A handful of older brands have proven unsafe and have faced recalls. These brands include:

• Zinsco or GTE-Sylvania: Installed in homes during the 1970s

• Federal Pacific Panel(FPE Stagb Lok): Installed in homes between 1950s-1980s

• Challenger: Installed between the 1980s and 1990s

• Pushmatic: Installed between the 1950s and 1980s

• Schneider: Produced between February 2020 and January 2022 with date codes between 200561 and 220233. (Reference #1)

Was your home built before 1990 and has the original panel? If so, you may need to upgrade or replace your electrical panel.

Insuring Your Home

Insurance companies may deny you home coverage if you have one of these recalled panels. These panels are too risky to ensure due safety hazards. The risk of residential fires is too high based on available data.

Selling Your Home

Not replacing a recalled panel may cause complications when selling your home as well. Some banks require homeowners to replace these recalled panels prior to a buyer's loan approval. In addition, having a recalled panel may impact the sale price of your home.

Cost to Replace a Panel

The cost of replacing an residential electrical panel can range between $3,800-$9,000. The range depends greatly on the additional electrical work required. Electricians must make sure that all electrical work performed meets code rules. In Washington state this includes the National Electrical Code (NEC) (Reference #2) and Washington state's RCW (Reference #3) and WAC (Reference #4).

Most of the cost for replacing or upgrading a panel comes from the skills and labor costs of the electricians. The panel is an important safety part of a home. So, it’s crucial to ensure that someone does the installation well.

Homeowners can look up any contractor and electrician's license number on Washington's Labor and Industries website (reference #5). You can view whether a license is active, expired, what continuing education has taken place and any potential citations.

Financing

At Miller's Electric, we offer multiple financing options through Service Finance. Our top plans are:

• Plan# 3060: 60 months, Zero interest with 60 Equal Monthly Payments. The minimum loan amount is $1,000.

• Plan# 4132: 9.99% Interest Rate, 120 months with a payment factor of 1.32%. The minimum loan amount is $3,000.

• Plan#4316: 3 months with no interest no payment and 120 months at 6.99% interest. The monthly payment includes the interest. The minimum loan amount is $3,000.

Available Rebates

Currently there isn't a utility rebate with Clark PUD on electrical upgrades or replacements. However, there will be rebates available in the future through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) (Reference #6). The Washington State Department of Commerce expects these Home Energy Rebates to become available in 2025.

Process for Panel Replacement in Clark County (Reference #7)

1. Get a Quote: At Miller's Electric, we offer free quotes on panel upgrades and/or panel replacements. To make this as easy as possible we offer several scheduling options. You can book a free quote online, text us or call us at 360-695-6500.

2. Approve the Work: Sign the Online Estimate to Move Forward with the Work

3. Permits: We will pull the L&I electrical permit for you. We will also schedule the post-work inspections.

4. Notify Clark PUD: One of our staff, will call Clark PUD's Construction Services to notify them about the project. We provide tell them your name, address, and the scope of work.

5. Request a Clark PUD Residential Planner: As the home owner, you will call Clark PUD and request that a residential planner visits your home. This process can take some time. Planners may a turn around time of up two weeks to schedule and perform their home visit. It may take them another 2-3 days to contact us, Miller's Electric, about the home visit and requirements for the work.

Note: This requirement applies only to panel upgrades, not to panel like-for-like swaps.

6. Schedule the Work & Unlock the Meter: Once Clark PUD approves the scope of work, we will schedule the job. We will notify Clark PUD about when the work will be taking place. They will unlock the meter the day/night before so work can begin the following day.

7. Work Completed & Reconnection of Power: Once the work has been completed, Clark PUD will come out and return power to your home.

8. Inspections: After the team finishes the work, an office staff member will call L&I. They will schedule the electrical inspection. An inspector will examine the electrical work to make sure it meets electrical code standards.

For a Like-In-Kind Panel Swap

This type of panel replacement is by far the easiest. For example, you are replacing a 200 amp panel with another 200 amp panel. Electricians call this a "like-in-kind" or a "like for like" electrical panel swap.

It does not require a residential planner to visit the home. Instead, Clark PUD just needs to unlock the meter before work begins.

In Washington state, this type of swap requires:

• Two ground rods

• Bonding of water pipe and gas pipe

• No AFCI or GFCI breakers need to be installed on the new panel

• No service disconnect needed unless relocating the panel further than 6'

For An Electrical Panel Upgrade

If you are upgrading your electrical panel, there are more steps involved. An example would be upgrading a 100 amp panel to a 200 amp panel.

In this case, a Clark PUD Residential Planner must to a site/home visit. They will investigate if the XFMR (transformer) and Triplex have ratings for upgraded service. Please note that PUD has the power to shut down from XFMR. We work with PUD to have them return power from the XFMR at EOD so that the homeowner doesn't have no power overnight.

Electrical Code Requirements:

• New panel has to have service disconnect switch on exterior of building between meter and panel

• All breakers that require to be GFCI &/or AFCI per NEC 2023 to be installed

• You need two ground rods and must bond the water pipe and gas pipe. However, you only need two ground rods if the ohms exceeds 25 ohms (resistance). If the ohms (resistance) measure 25 or below, then grounding code rules do not require a second ground rod.

• Washington did not adopt the outside disconnect requirement. Instead, the electricians will only need to install a second ground rod. 

Miller's Electric

We are proud to have an expert electrical department with licensed electricians and superior quality electrical work. We are able to replace your electrical panels as well as any other residential electrical work in Washington state. Services include:

• Panel safety checks

• Panel tune ups

• Whole home generator installs

• EV car charging station installs

• Electrical safety inspections

References

1. United States Consumer Product Safety Commission. "Schneider Electric™ Recalls 1.4 Million Electrical Panels Due to Thermal Burn and Fire Hazards". Available at: https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2022/Schneider-ElectricTM-Recalls-1-4-Million-Electrical-Panels-Due-to-Thermal-Burn-and-Fire-Hazards (Accessed September 2024)

2. Austin, D.; Coache C; Hannahs, C.; Hohengasser, E.; and Sargent, J. (eds) (2023) National Electrical Code Handbook. 16th edition. Quincy, Massachusetts: National Fire Protection Association.

3. Washington State Legislature. "Revised Code of Washington". Available at: https://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/ (Accessed September 2024)

4. Washington State Legislature. "Washington Administrator Code (WAC)". Available at: https://apps.leg.wa.gov/wac/ (Accessed September 2024)

5. Washington State Department of Labor and Industries. "Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business". Available at: https://secure.lni.wa.gov/verify/ (Accessed September 2024)

6. US Department of Treasury. "Inflation Reduction Act". Available at: https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/inflation-reduction-act#:~:text=On%20August%2016%2C%202022%2C%20President,made%20in%20the%20nation's%20history (Accessed September 2024)

7. Clark Public Utilities. "Start Or Upgrade Electrical Service". Available at: https://www.clarkpublicutilities.com/building-remodeling/home-or-building-owners/start-upgrade-electric-service/ (Accessed September 2024)