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Electrical Panel Upgrade · South Carolina
A panel upgrade replaces your breaker panel, and often the service entrance, so the home can safely carry more load: an EV charger, heat pump, induction range or addition. It always needs a permit, and usually needs the utility to disconnect and reconnect power.
Hurricane season on the coast and fast inland growth drive generator, surge and EV work.
Across the Southeast, homes deal with heat, humidity, frequent thunderstorms and hurricane season near the coast. Permit offices, utilities and housing stock differ by city, which affects how electrical panel upgrade is planned and scheduled. These local guides cover the South Carolina cities where we have written specific notes.
Rising tides and heavy rain flood low-lying Charleston streets more often than they once did, and many homes on the peninsula and in West Ashley have panels and meters that sit too low. A panel upgrade is a good time to move equipment higher, as well as to add capacity for a larger AC system, a standby generator or an EV charger.
Utility: Dominion Energy South Carolina (some outlying areas: Berkeley Electric Cooperative)
Older Columbia homes often have small panels sized before central air, an EV charger or a larger heat pump. Mid-century houses commonly have 100 amp panels with no open spaces.
Utility: Dominion Energy South Carolina (some outlying areas: electric cooperatives)
Greenville's mill-village homes and older houses along Augusta Road and North Main often have small services and full panels, and adding central air, an EV charger or a generator inlet usually needs more capacity. Some older homes still have fuse panels or equipment from manufacturers with known problems.
Utility: Duke Energy
1. Load calculation
The electrician sizes the service from your existing and planned loads.
2. Permit and utility coordination
The permit is pulled and the utility schedules disconnect and reconnect.
3. Install the panel and service parts
New panel, breakers, grounding and bonding, and service conductors or meter base if needed.
4. Inspection
The local inspector checks the work before or after power is restored, depending on the jurisdiction.
Electricians set their own prices; local permit fees and utility requirements add to these factors.
Permits come from the city or county where the home is. For example: Charleston: Electrical permits inside city limits come from the City of Charleston's building inspections division; other municipalities and unincorporated Charleston County have their own. Columbia: Inside city limits, electrical permits come from the City of Columbia's building inspections; Richland and Lexington counties and nearby cities have their own. Greenville: Electrical permits inside city limits come from the City of Greenville's Planning and Development office; unincorporated areas are permitted by Greenville County.
Charleston: Dominion Energy South Carolina (some outlying areas: Berkeley Electric Cooperative). Columbia: Dominion Energy South Carolina (some outlying areas: electric cooperatives). Greenville: Duke Energy.
If you have 100 amps or less and are adding an EV charger, heat pump or electric range, or your panel is a Federal Pacific, Zinsco or fuse box, ask an electrician for a load calculation.
Usually most of one working day, depending on the scope and how quickly the utility reconnects.
Yes, in essentially every US jurisdiction. The electrician pulls it and schedules the inspection.
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