Service upgrades

Electrical service upgrades in Edmonton, such as 100 A to 200 A: load calculation, meter base and mast, utility coordination with EPCOR or FortisAlberta, permits and inspection.

Why upgrade your service

Your electrical service is the connection from the utility to your building, sized in amps. It sets a limit on how much power you can use at once. Many older Edmonton homes have 60 or 100 amp services, and many small commercial buildings were built for much lighter loads than today's tenants bring.

Common reasons to upgrade:

• Adding an EV charger, especially a second one.
• Switching to a heat pump or electric heating.
• Adding a basement suite, garage shop or hot tub.
• Adding air conditioning in a home with electric appliances.
• A commercial tenant bringing in kitchen equipment or machinery.

What gets upgraded

A service upgrade usually includes a new meter base, a new main panel and new service conductors on your side of the meter. For overhead services, that often means a new mast too. The utility then upgrades or reconnects its side.

Where exactly the utility's responsibility ends depends on the utility and the service type, and underground services work differently from overhead ones. We confirm the details with EPCOR, FortisAlberta or your utility during planning.

The process

We start with a load calculation to choose the right size. Then we apply for the electrical permit and work with the utility to book a disconnect and reconnect date.

If the mast, meter base or service entrance needs to move, for example because of a new addition or a deck, we plan the new location with you and the utility. Clearances from windows, decks and the ground all matter for overhead services.

On upgrade day, the power is off while we replace the equipment. After our work is inspected or approved as required, the utility reconnects. For most homes, this happens in a single day, though scheduling with the utility can take weeks, so plan ahead.

Commercial and industrial services

Commercial and industrial upgrades are larger projects, often three-phase at 120/208 V or 347/600 V, and may involve new switchgear, transformers and engineered drawings. Utility lead times can be long. We coordinate the full process and plan outages around your hours. See switchgear upgrades for larger equipment.

Cost depends on the new service size, overhead or underground entry, distance to the utility connection, whether the panel moves, the number of circuits, grounding upgrades, and any utility charges. We explain each part in the quote.

Is an upgrade really needed?

Not every new load means a bigger service. Before recommending an upgrade, we look at alternatives that might do the job for less:

• An EV energy management system that shares capacity between the charger and the rest of the house.
• Choosing a heat pump sized and controlled to limit electric backup heat.
• Moving some loads to gas or reducing simultaneous use.
• Replacing old, inefficient equipment that eats up capacity.

If an upgrade is still the right choice, we size it with room for the next ten years, not just this project. Changing a service twice costs far more than doing it once.

Questions we hear