Subpanel Installation in Gresham, OR
- Garage, shop or addition circuits
- Load checked before we add anything
- Honest repair-or-replace advice
What Our Customers Say
Is Your Gresham Main Panel Out of Breaker Space?
Extra breaker space, fed from your main panel and mounted where the new circuits are needed — garage, shop, ADU or addition.
A subpanel does not bring more power into the house; the service from PGE stays the same size. Its job is to add breaker space. A single large breaker in the main panel sends a feeder cable out to a second panel, and that panel goes where the new load lives — a garage out back, a workshop, an ADU, an addition, a basement being finished. New circuits then start close to the rooms they serve rather than running back across the house, which saves cable and saves opening walls.
Everything starts with a load calculation: what the house uses now plus what the new space will add. If the main panel can carry both, the rest is a feeder breaker in the main, a feeder cable to the new location, the new panel on the wall and its circuits connected. If the incoming service is too small, a panel upgrade comes first, and PGE disconnects and reconnects for that part. Otherwise PGE stays out of it; the main breaker is off only while the feeder is connected. Neutral and ground conductors are kept apart in the new panel, and a detached building gets a grounding electrode of its own. The city inspects the whole installation.
How the Second Panel Goes In
Add up loads
The house today, plus the new space
Written estimate
Panel location and feeder route agreed first
City permit
Bought by us; PGE usually not needed
Feeder and panel
Main off, feeder run, new panel mounted
Inspect and test
City signs off; every new circuit tested
Most of Gresham's housing, 53% of 44,005 homes, went up between 1960 and 1989. A new shop, ADU or finished basement asks for breaker spaces a panel of that age may not have.
Signs a Second Panel Makes Sense
What Affects the Cost of a Subpanel in Gresham
A second panel adds breaker spaces, not power, and where it goes decides most of the work.
Where the new panel goes
A basement spot near the main takes a short feeder; a garage out back or an ADU takes a long one.
Trenching to an outbuilding
A detached building is usually fed underground, in conduit laid in a trench.
Feeder size
A space that will run more needs a bigger feeder breaker and heavier cable from the main panel.
Grounding at the far building
A detached shop, garage or ADU needs a grounding electrode of its own, with neutral and ground kept apart.
Room in the service
When the load math says the service cannot carry the new space, the panel is upgraded first, with PGE disconnecting for it.
A main panel from 1960–89
Most local houses date from those years, and a Federal Pacific or Zinsco main points to a replacement instead.
Every job gets a written estimate before any work starts.
Why Homeowners Here Call PWR Pro Electric
Feeder sized to the load calculation
Not to a guess about what the new space will run
No meter pull in most cases
PGE stays out unless the service has to grow
Written estimate before any work begins
Panel location and feeder route in writing
Questions Homeowners Ask
Will PGE need to pull the meter for a subpanel?
What electrical work does a basement ADU need?
When is a subpanel the wrong answer?
How long does a subpanel installation take?
Book a Subpanel Installation in Gresham
Written estimate before any work begins.