Give us a call or text at? (206) 914-3243 — use the form to set up your appointment.
CARROELC982BD
& insured
5.0 ★★★★★
North Seattle
Residential and commercial, small repairs to new construction — all of it priced up front and done to code.
Old fuse boxes and crowded panels replaced with clean, labelled service that handles what your house actually draws.
125A to 200A, meter base and mast included. We coordinate the utility shutdown so you’re not without power longer than six hours.
Kitchens, basements and whole-house renovations. Knob-and-tube removed, new circuits run, everything photographed before the drywall goes up.
Level 2 home charging on a dedicated 240V circuit. Sized for your car and your panel, permitted and inspected.
Tenant improvements, new builds, lighting and service work. After-hours scheduling so your floor keeps trading.
Breakers that keep tripping, dead outlets, flickering lights. We trace the fault instead of guessing at the drywall.
Not sure which one you need? Describe what’s happening and we’ll tell you — no charge for the answer.
The electrical service is everything between the utility’s lines and your panel — the overhead drop or underground lateral, the weatherhead and mast, the meter base, the service entrance conductors, the main disconnect, and the grounding electrode system that ties it all to earth. It sets the absolute ceiling on what the property can draw, and when it’s undersized or deteriorated, no amount of work inside the panel changes that.
Carroll Electric handles electrical service and meter work from meter base replacements to full capacity upgrades — increasing service size, replacing damaged or obsolete meter equipment, repairing masts and weatherheads, converting overhead to underground where the utility allows, and correcting grounding and bonding at the service. We’re a family business and a small, hands-on crew, which means the person who assesses your service is typically the same person on site doing the work, and the same person coordinating with the utility on your behalf.
Call or text us at (206) 914-3243 to talk through your electrical service.
“I highly recommend Carroll Electric. Cameron quickly responded and scheduled the same day visit while all the other electric companies were not available at 6pm. He is very knowledgeable, and he explained the cause of the issue, then he fixed all with a short time.”
Shinobu Y. ★★★★★
Carroll Electric was built around a simple belief: customers deserve honest communication, quality workmanship, and an electrician they can trust. As a family-owned company with a young, passionate team, we’re committed to making every project straightforward — from the first phone call to the final walkthrough.
We don’t believe in confusing estimates or unnecessary upselling. We believe in showing up when we say we will, keeping our work clean, and doing every installation the right way.
“We’d rather lose a job to an honest number than win one with a vague one.”
Tyler Carroll — Manager & Founding Member
Whether it’s a panel upgrade, remodel rewire, EV charger installation, commercial project, or troubleshooting a difficult issue, every job receives the same attention to detail, craftsmanship, and respect.
We’re proud to be a local family business serving our community with transparency, professionalism, and electrical work built to last.
Family
Owned
4
On the crew
Licensed
Bonded & insured
5.0★
Google rating
Cameron Carroll
Owner / Electrician
Tyler Carroll
Manager / Founding Member
Slater Bradley
Original Electrician
Michael Martinez
Apprentice
Service work usually comes up one of three ways: the utility flags something, a project runs into a capacity ceiling, or the equipment itself has visibly failed.
The physical signs are worth knowing. A meter base that’s rusted, cracked, pulling away from the wall, or scorched around the connections. A service mast that’s loose, bent, or leaning where the overhead drop attaches. A weatherhead that’s split or missing its drip loop. Frayed or cloth-covered service entrance conductors. Burn marks or heat discoloration at the main disconnect. A meter socket that predates the current utility standard and no longer meets their requirements for replacement or reconnection.
The capacity path is the more common one. A home still on 60 or 100 amps that’s adding an EV charger, a heat pump, a mini-split, an ADU, an electric range, or a shop will frequently hit the limit of what the service can deliver, regardless of how much room the panel has. And the third path is external: a utility upgrade to their equipment, storm damage to the drop, a failed inspection, or an insurer flagging the service can all force the conversation whether you were planning it or not.
If any of that describes your property, an on-site assessment will tell you what’s actually needed. Sometimes the service is fine and only the panel needs work — which is a much smaller project. We’ll tell you if that’s what we find.
Photography is one of Carroll Electric’s strongest branding assets. We showcase our real electricians, real homes, real commercial projects, and the quality craftsmanship behind every installation.
The same questions come up on nearly every electrical service job. Here’s how we answer them.
Is this the same thing as a panel upgrade? Not quite. A panel upgrade changes how power is distributed inside the building. An electrical service upgrade changes how much power comes in, and it involves the meter, the service entrance, and the utility. They’re often done together, but they’re distinct scopes at distinct prices.
Who owns what — me or the utility? Generally the utility owns up to the point of attachment or the meter, and the property owner owns the meter base, service entrance conductors, mast, and everything downstream. The exact dividing line varies by utility, and we’ll confirm it for your address.
How long will my power be off? That depends on the scope and on the utility’s schedule for the disconnect and reconnect. We’ll give you the expected window in advance and tell you if anything changes.
Can I just replace the meter base without upgrading the service? Sometimes, when the existing size is adequate and only the equipment has failed. If the meter base is being replaced anyway, though, it’s worth pricing the upgrade at the same time — much of the labor overlaps.
What will it cost? You receive an itemized written estimate after an on-site assessment, with labor and materials broken out separately, so you can see how the number was reached.
Same crew, same rates, same paperwork. What changes is how we schedule around you and who we send the invoice to.
Panel upgrades, EV chargers, dead outlets, breakers that keep tripping. You get a written number before anything starts, and a call before we spend more than it.
Rough-in and trim on the date we gave you. Inspections cleared without you chasing them, and a phone call the moment anything looks like it might slip.
Tenant calls handled the same day. Certificate of insurance on file, one invoice format across every unit you run, and photos of the work sent through each time.
Tenant improvements, new builds, lighting and service work. After-hours and weekend scheduling so your floor keeps trading while we’re in there.
Kitchens, additions, whole-house rewires. Clean installs, labelled circuits, and everything behind the drywall photographed before it’s closed up.
The people who just call us when something goes wrong. We keep a record of what we’ve done at your property, so we’re not starting from scratch every visit.
We’d rather be the electrician you call for the next ten years than the one who won a single job on price. If you manage more than one property, ask about an account.
Every project follows the same process, from first contact through follow-up.
It starts with an on-site assessment. We look at the existing service size, the condition of the meter base, mast, weatherhead, and service entrance conductors, whether the service is overhead or underground, the location of the point of attachment, the condition of the grounding electrode system, and what the utility’s current standards require at your address. We run a load calculation rather than estimating, because the difference between what a property has and what it actually needs is the whole question. From that assessment you receive a written, itemized estimate separating labor and materials, before you approve anything.
Once the work is approved, we pull the permit and submit what the utility requires to schedule the disconnect and reconnect. That coordination is the part that shapes the schedule more than the electrical work does, and it’s the piece most homeowners have no practical way to manage themselves. We handle it.
On the day, we set the new meter base and service entrance equipment, install and terminate conductors sized correctly for the service, address the mast and weatherhead or the underground lateral as the scope requires, establish a compliant grounding electrode system, and make up the connections for the utility’s reconnection. Every project closes with a walkthrough, documentation of the completed work, permit and inspection records, and an invoice that matches the estimate.
“My wife and I are very impressed with the service from Carroll Electric. I can honestly say they are hands down the best electric company I have ever worked with. We have called them for various projects in the past and will continue to use them for anything needed in the future.”
Brandon V. ★★★★★
Carroll Electric exists to provide high-quality electrical work while creating a customer experience built on transparency, communication, reliability, and craftsmanship. These principles guide every decision, from the first phone call to the final walkthrough.
01
Our rates are published on this website. You approve a written number before any work begins, and permits and parts are passed through at cost with the receipt attached.
02
Calls and messages answered the same working day. If we find something unexpected behind the wall, you get a phone call before we spend another dollar of your money.
03
We hold the date we gave you. Licensed, bonded and insured, permits pulled where they’re required, and we meet the inspector ourselves rather than leaving it to you.
04
Labelled circuits, dressed conductors, and a panel directory you can read at 6am. We photograph what goes behind the drywall so there’s a record long after we’ve gone.
We photograph every job as we go — partly so you have a record of what’s in your walls, partly because clean work is worth showing.
Old
New
Old
New
Every job gets photographed as we go. If you want to see work like yours before you commit, ask and we’ll send you the closest match we’ve done nearby.
The meter base — the socket the utility’s meter plugs into — is one of the more common failure points on an older electrical service, and it’s usually the property owner’s responsibility rather than the utility’s.
We replace meter bases that have corroded from decades of weather exposure, cracked or pulled loose from the wall, suffered heat damage or burning at the lugs, or been damaged by water intrusion. We also replace sockets that simply no longer meet the utility’s current standard, which comes up when a utility declines to reconnect to obsolete equipment after any interruption.
A meter base replacement doesn’t necessarily mean a capacity upgrade. If your existing service size is adequate and only the equipment has failed, replacing it in kind is the smaller and less expensive job. But because the utility disconnect, the permit, and much of the labor are the same either way, it’s worth pricing both when the socket is coming off the wall regardless. We’ll show you the difference rather than assuming which one you want.
On an overhead electrical service, the mast is the conduit carrying service conductors up through or alongside the roof to the point where the utility’s drop attaches. It takes weather, wind load, and the mechanical pull of the drop itself, and on older homes it’s frequently the part that fails first.
We repair and replace masts that are bent, leaning, loose at the roof penetration, or undersized for the load they’re carrying, along with weatherheads that have split, lost their gasket, or no longer shed water the way they need to. A mast pulling away from the structure is not a cosmetic issue — it’s a service conductor problem in progress, and utilities take it seriously.
Height and clearance requirements are part of this work. Service drops have to maintain specific clearances over roofs, driveways, walkways, and yards, and those requirements are commonly violated on older properties where a roof was raised, a deck was added, or a driveway was regraded. We check clearances as part of the assessment and tell you if the point of attachment needs to move.
Any licensed electrician can land the job to code. What people remember is everything around it — whether you called back, showed up when you said, and left the place clean.
01
Rates are on this website. You approve a written number before we start.
02
Calls and messages answered same day. You always know who is coming and when.
03
An owner is on site or a phone call away on every project. No account manager in between.
04
Real photos of your job, not stock images of someone else’s. You see what went in.
05
Itemised quotes, permits filed, inspections logged, invoices you can actually read.
06
Labelled circuits, dressed conductors, a directory you can actually read at 6am.
07
Thermal imaging and circuit tracing find the fault instead of guessing at the drywall.
08
Marked van, branded shirts, and the same crew each visit. No mystery truck in the drive.
09
If a repair will hold another five years, we’ll tell you that instead of selling a rewire.
Most older properties in the area have overhead service — a drop from a nearby pole to a mast on the building. Underground service, where the conductors run in a buried lateral from a pad-mounted transformer or a pole riser, is standard on newer construction and increasingly requested on remodels.
Converting overhead to underground is possible in many cases, and the appeal is real: no drop across the yard, no mast on the roof, no clearance issues, and no exposure to falling limbs during storms. It’s also a substantially larger project. It involves trenching across the property, coordinating with the utility on the connection point and their requirements for conduit and depth, and often a longer conductor run that affects sizing.
Whether it’s available at all depends on the utility, the distance to their nearest suitable connection, and what’s already in the ground. We’ll tell you at the assessment whether conversion is realistic for your property and what it would involve, rather than quoting it as though it were a variation on a standard upgrade.
Service sizing is arithmetic, not intuition. We calculate the actual demand of the property — existing loads plus whatever is planned — using the methods the code requires rather than a rule of thumb about square footage.
For most single-family homes, 200-amp service is the practical answer and leaves meaningful headroom for future electrification. Some properties genuinely need 400 amps: large homes with electric heat, multiple EVs, a shop, a pool, or an ADU on the same service. Others are comfortable where they are and would gain nothing from an upgrade beyond the invoice.
The calculation matters more now than it used to, because the direction of travel is one-way. A house that adds a heat pump, then an EV charger, then an induction range is adding substantial continuous load in stages, and each of those decisions is easier when the service was sized with room to grow. We’ll walk you through what your current service supports, what your plans would require, and where the honest breakpoint is between the two.
An electrical service upgrade is the point at which grounding and bonding get brought current, and on older properties this is often the most consequential part of the work even though nobody notices it afterward.
Requirements have changed considerably. Where a single ground rod or a connection to a metallic water line was once accepted, current code generally requires a specific grounding electrode system with supplemental electrodes, proper conductor sizing, and accessible connections. Water service lines replaced with plastic somewhere along their length are a frequent finding — the bonding path that used to exist has been silently interrupted, sometimes for decades.
Bonding at the service also has to be right: the main bonding jumper at the service disconnect, bonding of interior metal water piping and any gas piping, and correct separation of neutrals and grounds downstream. These are the details inspectors look at closely on service work, and they’re the reason an upgrade is a natural moment to correct problems that would otherwise stay hidden.
Carroll Electric also handles electrical service and meter work for commercial spaces, rental properties, and multi-unit buildings across Seattle, the north end, and the Eastside. Commercial and multifamily services involve larger equipment, three-phase configurations, meter stacks serving multiple units, house panels for common areas, and coordination that has to account for tenants and business hours.
Planning matters more at this scale. A building adding EV charging, converting from gas to electric heat, or taking on a tenant with real electrical demand needs the service evaluated before commitments are made — the service is frequently the constraint that determines whether a project is feasible at all, and finding that out late is expensive.
Property managers and building owners receive the same process as every other client: an on-site assessment, an itemized written estimate before work begins, utility coordination handled on your behalf, and code-compliant installations with permit and inspection records for your files. For owners managing several properties, we’re set up to be a consistent long-term partner rather than a one-time vendor.
Published, not quoted on the doorstep. Builders and repeat clients pay less because the work is easier to plan — you’ll see exactly which rate applies to you before we start.
Residential
Builder / Contractor
$100/hr
Repeat Client
$110/hr
First Time
$125/hr
Emergency
$125–$250/hr
Commercial
Builder / Contractor
$125/hr
Repeat Client
$150/hr
First Time
$175/hr
Emergency
$150–$300/hr
Trip Fee One low trip fee. No surprises.
Within 10 miles
$50
Within 20 miles
$75
20+ miles
$100+
We’d rather explain pricing than have you ask for it. Electrical service and meter work costs come down to a few specific variables: whether the job is a meter base replacement or a capacity increase, the service size going in, whether the service is overhead or underground, the condition of the mast and point of attachment, the length of the service entrance run, what the grounding electrode system requires, and what your utility specifies for equipment and clearances at your address.
Your estimate breaks those out in plain terms, with labor and materials listed separately, so you can see how the number was reached. When panel work is part of the conversation, it’s priced as its own line rather than folded in. Nothing appears on the final invoice that wasn’t in the estimate.
A low number is easy to say. These are the commitments that come attached to it, on every service upgrade and panel swap we do.
Your power is out for a maximum of six hours on the day of the swap. We plan the shutdown around your schedule.
We meet the inspector ourselves and clear the permit within five business days of finishing.
Any additional install or relocation the upgrade makes necessary is done free of charge. Not billed as a change order.
Bring us a written quote and we will meet it at minimum. In most cases we come in 25 to 50 percent lower.
Bonus
A free small install or troubleshoot with every upgrade.
A new light fixture, dimmers, outlets, or a fault you have been meaning to chase down — while we are already on site.
Washington requires a permit and an inspection for essentially all new and altered electrical work, and service changes are among the most closely inspected work an electrician does — the inspection has to clear before the utility will reconnect. Which office issues the permit depends on where the property is. Seattle runs its own electrical permitting and inspection program through the Department of Construction and Inspections, and the work is held to the Seattle Electrical Code — the city’s own amended edition of the National Electrical Code. Outside cities that operate their own programs, permitting and inspection are handled by the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries. We work in both systems regularly and pull the permit from whichever authority governs your address.
Handling the permit isn’t a convenience we offer — it’s the law. When you hire an electrical contractor in Washington, that contractor is required to purchase the permit for the work they perform on your property. On service work in particular, skipping it isn’t practical anyway: the utility won’t reconnect without a cleared inspection.
The utility is the second layer, and on service work it’s the one that shapes the schedule. Every electrical service upgrade requires the utility serving your address to disconnect and later reconnect, and their requirements govern the equipment, the meter location, the point of attachment, and the clearances. Each utility publishes its own service standards, and those requirements are not optional or negotiable. We submit what they need, sequence the inspection so the reconnect can happen as soon as they’re able, and keep you informed of where things stand.
The permit record also outlives the project. Service equipment is among the first things a home inspector examines, and unpermitted work at the service is a reliable way to complicate a sale.
Homeowners on 60 or 100-amp service who are running out of capacity. Anyone adding an EV charger, heat pump, electric range, hot tub, ADU, or shop and hitting the ceiling of what the service delivers. Owners with a corroded, damaged, or obsolete meter base. Properties with a bent or failing service mast, or a drop with clearance problems. Homeowners whose utility has flagged their equipment or declined to reconnect to it. Buyers whose inspection report cited the service, and sellers preparing a property for market. Builders and general contractors setting service on new construction. Property managers and commercial owners upgrading aging service equipment.
Carroll Electric is a licensed electrical contractor serving Seattle, the north end, and the Eastside. We’re a small, hands-on family crew, and the person who assesses your service is typically the person on site doing the work. You receive an itemized estimate before anything begins, we size the service to what the property actually needs rather than to the largest number we can sell, we handle the permit and the utility coordination so you don’t have to, we install to your utility’s standards and to code the first time, and we hand you the records at the end. Our focus is on giving you the information to make a confident decision — not on selling you more than you need.
Call or text us at (206) 914-3243 to talk through your electrical service.
“Highly recommend Carroll Electric! Cameron provided outstanding service from start to finish. His pricing was incredibly reasonable, and he managed the entire project seamlessly — including coordinating directly with the inspector to ensure everything went smoothly. The work was completed exactly on time, and the quality is top-notch.”
Niket A. ★★★★★
And surrounding areas throughout King and south Snohomish Counties.
Whether it’s a failed meter base or a full electrical service upgrade with utility coordination, Carroll Electric has the licensing and experience to complete the work correctly. Contact us to schedule an assessment.
See real project examples and our straightforward hourly rates.
King County:
Seattle (98115, 98082, 98125, 98165, 98105, 98175, 98195, 98112, 98103, 98113, 98122, 98109, 98117, 98127, 98139, 98141, 98194, 98107, 98101, 98119, 98111, 98170, 98181, 98185, 98190, 98191, 98164, 98161, 98154, 98104, 98121, 98174, 98160, 98199, 98134, 98118, 98108, 98116, 98106, 98126, 98136, 98178, 98168, 98131, 98199, 98141, 98181, 98170, 98145, 98138, 98129, 98124
Bellevue (98004, 98005, 98009, 98015, 98007, 98008, 98006), Bothell (98034, 98011, 98041, 98021, 98012), Mercer Island (98040, 98118), Newcastle (98056, 98059), Issaquah (98029, 98027, 98075), Kenmore (98028, 98125, 98155), Kirkland (98034, 98033, 98133, 98102, 98114, 98124, 98129, 98138, 98145, 98144, 98083), Lake Forest Park (98155), Medina (98039, 98039), Redmond (98052, 98073, 98053, 98008, 98033), Renton (98056, 98059, 98055, 98057, 98058, 98178), Richmond Beach (98177), Sammamish (98074, 98075, 98008, 98029), Shoreline (98155, 98133, 98177, 98160), Woodinville (98072, 98077)
Snohomish County:
Bothell (98034, 98011, 98041, 98021, 98012), Edmonds (98020, 98006, 98026), Everett (98208, 98204, 98208, 98203, 98213, 98201, 98207, 98275, 98203, 98290, 98206, 98272), Lynnwood (98036, 98046, 98037, 98087, 98037), Mill Creek (98012, 98082), Mountlake Terrace (98043, 98043), Mukilteo (98275), Snohomish (98296, 98291, 98290)
Seattle Neighborhoods:
North Seattle: Ballard (98107, 98117), Broadview (98177. 98133), Bitter Lake (98133), Blue Ridge (98177, 98133), Bryant (98223), Crown Hill (98117), Fremont (98103, 98107), Green Lake (98103, 98115), Greenwood (98103, 98117, 98133), Hawthorne Hills (98105, 98115), Lake Union (98109), Laurelhurst (98105), North Beach (98117), North College Park (98103), Northgate (98125, 98133), Northlake (98103), Phinney Ridge (98103, 98107, 98117), Ravenna (98105, 98115), Roosevelt (98115), Sand Point (98115, 98105), University District (98105, 98115, 98195), University Village (98105), Wallingford (98103), Wedgwood (98115), Windermere (98105, 98115), View Ridge (98115)
Northgate: Haller Lake (98133, 98125), Lake City (98125, 98115), Maple Leaf (98115), Pinehurst (98125)
Lake City: Cedar Park (98125), Matthews Beach (98115, 98125), Meadowbrook (98125m 98115, 98155), Olympic Hills (98125), Victory Heights (98125, 98115)
Ballard: Adams (98107), Loyal Heights (98117), Sunset Hill (98117, 98107), West Woodland (98107), Whittier Heights (98117)
Central Seattle: Cascade (98109), Capitol Hill (98102, 98112, 98122), Eastlake (98102), Interbay (98119, 98199), Lake Union (98109, 98102, 98103), Queen Anne (98109, 98119), Westlake (98109)
Magnolia: Briarcliff (98199), Lawton Park (98199), Southeast Magnolia (98199)
Capitol Hill: Broadmoor (98112), Broadway (98122, 98102), Interlaken (98112), Madison Park (98112), Madison Valley (98112, 98122), Montlake (98112), Pike-Pine Corridor (98122, 98101), Portage Bay (98102, 98105), Roanoke (98102, 98112), Renton Hill (98057), Stevens (98112)
Central Seattle: Atlantic (98144, 98134), Central Area (98122, 98144), Central District (98122, 98144), Cherry Hill (98122), Denny-Blaine (98112), Downtown (98101, 98104, 98113, 98121, 98141, 98154, 98161, 98165, 98170, 98174, 98175, 98181, 98185, 98190, 98191, 98194), , Judkins Park (98144, 98122), Leschi (98122, 98144), Madrona (98122), Mann (98122), Minor (98122, 98144), Squire Park (98122, 98144), Washington Park (98112)
Downtown Seattle: Belltown (98121, 98101, 98109), Central Business District (98101, 98104, 98164, 98121, 98154), Central Waterfront (98101, 98104, 98121, 98134), Chinatown-International District (98104), Denny Triangle (98101), First Hill (98104, 98122, 98101), Pike-Market (98101), Pioneer Square (98104, 98134), West Edge (98101), Yesler Terrace (98104, 98122)
South End: Atlantic City Beach (98118), Brighton (98118), Beacon Hill (98108, 9811, 98144), Columbia City (98118, 98108), Dunlap (98118), Georgetown (98108), Harbor Island (98134), Hillman City (98118), Holly Park (98118), Industrial District (98134, 98108), Lakerridge (98178), Lakewood (98144), Mount Baker (98144), New Holly (98118, 98108), Othello (99344, 99327, 99332), Rainier Beach (98118, 98178), Rainier Valley (98118), Rainier View (98178), Seward Park (98118), SoDo (98134), South Park (98108), Van Asselt (98108)
West Seattle: Admiral District (98116, 98126), Alaska Junction (98116, 98126, 98136), Alki Point (98116), Arbor Heights (98146, 98126, 98136), Delridge (98106, 98126), Fairmount Park (9811, 98126, 98136), Fauntleroy (98136, 98116, 98126), Gatewood (98136), Genesee (98116, 98126), Mee-Kwa-Mooks (98116), North Admiral (98116), North Delridge (98106. 98126), Seaview (98136), West Seattle Junction (98116)
Delridge: High Point (98126, 98106), Highland Park (98106, 98108), Riverview (98106), Roxhill (98126, 98106), South Delridge (98126, 98106)
Most electricians won’t give you a number until someone is standing in your space, and there’s a reason for that — an honest price depends on what’s actually there. But that’s not much help when you’re trying to budget. So here are real quotes from recent work instead.
Look at what’s in them. Rough-in and trim-stage work priced separately, so you can see the two halves of the job. Every item listed individually, so if you add something, remove something, or change your mind, the number moves by a specific amount instead of becoming a conversation. And where existing circuits are safe and serviceable, they’re listed by name — the work we’re not charging you to redo, written down where you can check it.
That’s what a calculated price looks like. Nothing padded to cover a worst case, nothing priced low to get in the door. When you can see how a number was built, you can tell whether it’s fair.
Tap any quote to read it full screen
Your project will differ, and the assessment is what produces an accurate number — but this is how we build one.
Cost depends on whether the job is a meter base replacement or a capacity increase, the service size, whether the service is overhead or underground, the condition of the mast and point of attachment, the length of the service entrance run, and what your utility requires at your address. We provide an itemized written estimate after an on-site assessment, with labor and materials broken out separately. Call or text (206) 914-3243 to schedule an assessment.
A service upgrade increases the power coming into the building and involves the meter base, service entrance conductors, grounding, and the utility. A panel upgrade replaces the equipment that distributes power inside the building. They’re frequently done together, and a capacity increase usually requires both, but they’re separate scopes at separate prices. The assessment determines what your property needs.
Yes. Service work requires a permit and inspection, and the inspection has to clear before the utility will reconnect. Inside Seattle, the permit comes from the city’s Department of Construction and Inspections; in jurisdictions without their own program, it comes from the Department of Labor & Industries. Carroll Electric pulls the permit and schedules the inspection as part of the project, which is what state law requires of the contractor doing the work.
That depends on the scope of the work and on the utility’s schedule for the disconnect and reconnect — that second piece usually shapes the timing more than the electrical work does. We’ll walk you through the expected sequence and outage window at the assessment, and we’ll tell you as soon as we know if anything shifts.
Generally the utility owns its equipment up to the point of attachment or the meter itself, and the property owner is responsible for the meter base, service entrance conductors, mast, and everything downstream. The exact dividing line varies by utility, and we’ll confirm it for your address so you know what falls to you before any work is scheduled.
Often, yes. If your existing service size is adequate and only the equipment has failed or become obsolete, replacing it in kind is the smaller job. Because the permit, the utility disconnect, and much of the labor are the same either way, we’ll price both so you can see whether upgrading at the same time makes sense for you.
It should be looked at promptly. The mast carries the mechanical load of the overhead drop, and a mast that’s leaning or loose at the roof penetration is a problem in progress rather than a cosmetic issue. Call us and we’ll assess it.
It depends on the loads, not the square footage. A home with gas heat, gas water heating, and gas cooking may be comfortable at 100 amps. Add electric heat, a heat pump, an EV charger, an ADU, or a shop and the calculation changes quickly. We run a load calculation and give you the number rather than defaulting to the largest service available.
Sometimes. It depends on your utility, the distance to a suitable connection point, and what’s already in the ground. It’s a considerably larger project than a standard upgrade because it involves trenching and the utility’s requirements for conduit, depth, and connection. We’ll tell you at the assessment whether it’s realistic for your property and what it would actually involve.
Not necessarily, though power will be out for part of it and access to the meter and panel area is required. We’ll go over the details at the assessment so you can plan around the outage and decide what works for your schedule.
Carroll Electric provides electrical service and meter upgrades to homeowners, contractors, and businesses throughout Seattle, Shoreline, Bothell, Lynnwood, Kirkland, Bellevue, Redmond, Sammamish, Issaquah, and surrounding communities across King and south Snohomish Counties.
Our approach to every project is the same: the right scope, sized correctly, installed to code and to your utility’s standards, coordinated so you aren’t chasing anyone, and documented for your records. We’re a small family crew, so you’re working with the people doing the work rather than being handed between a salesperson, a scheduler, and whoever is available. That’s what stands behind two brothers, one mission — do the job right, at the right price.
Reach out today to schedule your appointment.
