Upgrading to 200 amp service, from your side of the meter

What is 200 amp service upgrade?

A 200 amp service upgrade replaces the whole electrical service entering your home - the meter socket, the service entrance conductors, the mast or lateral, the grounding electrode system and the main panel - not just the breaker box. Because the utility owns the wires up to your meter, it is a three-party job: you, your electrician, and the utility. The on-site work is usually one to two days; the scheduling around it is what makes the calendar long.

Signs you need 200 amp service upgrade

• A load calculation has already shown your demand exceeds what your existing service can carry - the decision has been made and you are now planning the work
• Your service conductors are the limiting factor, not the panel, so a breaker-box swap alone will not raise your capacity
• The meter socket is damaged, corroded, burnt or has been red-tagged by the utility
• The service mast is loose, bent, pulling away from the wall, or the overhead drop hangs below required clearance over a driveway or roof
• An inspector or the utility has told you in writing that the service entrance has to be replaced before other work can be signed off

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How 200 amp service upgrade actually works

1. 1

   The site survey and what it commits you to

   Before anything is priced, the electrician establishes whether your service is overhead or underground, where the meter is, whether the mast and weather head can be reused, how the grounding electrode system is arranged, and where the new panel will physically go. Overhead and underground services diverge sharply in cost and in who does what - with an underground lateral, the utility often owns and schedules more of the work.

   Watch forA quote produced without anyone looking at the meter and the mast. Nearly every unpleasant surprise on this job lives in the twelve feet between the utility drop and your panel.

2. 2

   Permit first, then the utility application

   The electrician pulls the electrical permit, then applies to the utility for a service change. These are separate processes with separate queues, and the utility application is normally the long pole. In many areas the utility will not schedule a disconnect until it has the permit number.

   Watch forBeing given a start date before the utility has confirmed one. The honest answer at quoting time is a range, and a contractor who commits to a date they do not control is managing your feelings, not your project.

3. 3

   The disconnect appointment

   On the day, the utility must physically de-energise and pull the meter before your electrician can touch the service entrance. Depending on the utility this is a scheduled crew visit, a same-day cut-and-reconnect, or a self-service arrangement where the electrician is authorised to pull the meter under seal.

   Watch forA morning window that slips. If the utility crew arrives at 2pm, the work does not finish that day and you may be reconnected on a temporary basis or not at all. Ask what the contingency is before it happens.

4. 4

   Meter socket, service entrance conductors and mast

   The old meter socket comes off and a new one rated for the new service goes on, with conductors sized for it. Overhead services get a new mast, weather head and drip loop, positioned to keep the drop at required clearance. Underground services get the lateral terminated into the new equipment.

   Watch forReusing an old meter socket or mast to shave the quote. If either is rated below the new service, or is corroded, it becomes the weak point of a system you just spent five figures raising.

5. 5

   Grounding electrode system

   The upgrade is where grounding gets brought to current standards - ground rods driven to spec, bonding to the metallic water service where present, and a properly sized grounding electrode conductor. On older homes this is often the largest single change from what was there before.

   Watch forGrounding shown as a small allowance. Rock, frost line, finished landscaping and a slab foundation all make driving rods harder, and this is a common source of a supplementary bill.

6. 6

   The new panel and circuit transfer

   Each existing branch circuit is moved onto the new panel and landed on an appropriately sized breaker, with arc-fault and ground-fault protection where current code requires it. Circuits that were doubled up on a single breaker get separated. This is the slowest part of the on-site work in a house with a lot of circuits.

   Watch forUndersized or unlabelled circuits carried over without being checked. An upgrade is the one moment when every branch circuit is in someone's hands - a crew that just re-lands them has skipped the most useful inspection your house will ever get.

7. 7

   Inspection - before you get power back

   A jurisdictional inspector has to sign the work off. In most places the utility will not reconnect permanently until it has that sign-off, which means an inspection failure directly extends the time you are without power or on a temporary connection. Same-day inspection is common in some jurisdictions and unavailable in others.

   Watch forA job finished on a Friday afternoon in a jurisdiction that does not inspect at weekends. Ask when inspection is booked, not just when the work is booked.

8. 8

   Reconnection and the seal

   The utility re-energises the service, sets and seals the meter, and the connection becomes permanent. Only then is your service actually 200 amps in any useful sense.

   Watch forAssuming the job is over when the electrician leaves. Until the meter is set and sealed and the permit is closed out, you have an open permit on your property, which surfaces at resale.

What does 200 amp service upgrade cost?

A full 200 amp service upgrade - meter socket, service entrance conductors, mast, grounding and panel - typically runs several thousand dollars, and commonly lands well above a panel-only swap. Underground services, long runs, a relocated meter and difficult grounding push it higher. Local labour rates and utility charges vary widely.

See the full 200 amp service upgrade cost guide - by material, size and region →

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