Whichever utility bills you. Most of north-east Portland is Pacific Power; SE, N, NW and SW Portland are mostly PGE, and six areas are split. Neither utility inspects the work, Portland Permitting & Development does, but the utility disconnects the house before the panel and meter base come out and reconnects it only after the city inspection passes. We schedule both.
Which utility serves your Portland address
Portland is one of the few cities in the region with two electric utilities. Of Portland's 96 neighborhood areas, 28 are served by Pacific Power and the rest by Portland General Electric, with six areas split between them. Most of north-east Portland is Pacific Power. South-east, north, north-west and south-west Portland are mostly PGE.
For day-to-day power it does not matter which one you have. For a service upgrade it matters for one reason: the utility owns the connection between the street and your meter, and only the utility can cut and restore it. So the panel upgrade has a third party in it, and the schedule bends around that party's calendar.
A service upgrade, for this guide, means any job that replaces the meter base, the service conductors or the main panel. Replacing a breaker inside the panel does not need a utility disconnect. Replacing the panel, the meter base or the service conductors does, because the work is on the utility's side of the meter or right up against it, and it cannot be done live.
Your bill is the answer to which utility you have. If you rent or have just moved in, the name on the meter or the previous owner's bill will tell you. We confirm it at the walk-through before we book anything.
The six Portland areas served by both utilities
In these areas the line between PGE and Pacific Power runs through the neighborhood, so a neighbor's answer is not necessarily yours.
Inside Portland and outside Portland
Portland
PGE or Pacific Power, by address. Permit and inspection from Portland Permitting & Development. The sequence is permit, utility disconnect, panel and meter base swap, city inspection, utility reconnect.
Everywhere else we work
14 of the 15 other Oregon cities in our service area, Gresham, Beaverton, Hillsboro, Tigard, Tualatin, Lake Oswego, West Linn, Milwaukie, Happy Valley, Oregon City, Clackamas, Troutdale, Sherwood and Wilsonville, are PGE, checked by address. There is no utility question, only a permit-office one. Forest Grove is the exception in Oregon: most of the city is served by Forest Grove Light & Power, the city's own utility, and its electrical permits come from Washington County. Vancouver, WA is Clark Public Utilities: the permit is pulled and posted, Clark Public Utilities pulls the meter, the work goes in, the City of Vancouver or Washington Labor & Industries inspects, and only after that passes does Clark Public Utilities return to set the meter and restore power.
Same shape everywhere: a permit, a utility disconnect, the work, an inspection by the permit office, and a reconnect by the utility. Only the names change.
The sequence: permit, disconnect, swap, inspection, reconnect
- 1
Permit
We pull the electrical permit with Portland Permitting & Development. In Oregon the person performing the work pulls the permit, so a hired contractor must buy it. Nothing is scheduled with the utility until the permit exists.
- 2
Utility disconnect
PGE or Pacific Power cuts power at the service drop or lateral and pulls the meter. From this point the house has no power.
- 3
Panel and meter base swap
Old panel and meter base out; new service conductors, meter base, panel, grounding and bonding in; every circuit landed and labeled.
- 4
City inspection
An inspector from Portland Permitting & Development checks the work. The utility will not reconnect without a passed inspection.
- 5
Utility reconnect
The same utility that disconnected returns, sets the meter and restores power. We test every circuit before we leave.
What to expect on the day
Power is off for the working portion
The whole house, not just the panel. Plan for the fridge and freezer, and tell us about any medical equipment.
Two utility visits
The utility comes once to disconnect and once to reconnect. The city inspector comes between them, and the reconnect waits on that pass.
Access
We need clear space at the panel inside and at the meter outside, and a clear path between them for the new conductors.
A third party in the schedule
The disconnect and reconnect run on the utility's calendar as well as ours. We book them once the permit is in hand and give you the plan in writing.
How long the power is usually off during a service upgrade
On a panel upgrade the power is usually off for about 8 hours, inside a job that takes 1–2 days. A full service upgrade with a new meter base usually takes 8–10 hours of work. Either way, we tell you the day in advance so you can plan around it.
These are bigger jobs, so we give you a start date with your written estimate. Before it starts we pull the permit and book the disconnect and reconnect with PGE or Pacific Power.
Book the upgrade and let us handle the utility
PWR Pro Electric upgrades services across Portland and the greater Portland metro. We pull the permit and schedule PGE or Pacific Power, and on a panel upgrade the power is usually off for about 8 hours. Call 503-984-1097. Oregon CCB #259813.
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