Electrical Service Upgrades in Beverly, MA
A lot of Beverly’s housing went up between the 1900s and the 1930s, back when a 30 or 60 amp fuse panel was plenty for a few lights and an icebox. Now those same houses are running central air, an electric range, a heat pump, maybe an EV in the driveway, all on a service that was never sized for any of it.
Electrical Service Upgrades in Beverly
An electrical service upgrade means increasing the size of the power coming into the house, usually from 60 or 100 amps up to 100 or 200 amps. It is not the same as swapping a panel that is failing. It is about capacity: how much load your house can actually carry without breakers tripping or wires overheating. If you are adding central air, an EV charger, a hot tub, or converting an oil boiler to an electric heat pump, this is usually where that project starts.
Why Beverly Homes Need This
Beverly’s neighborhoods, from the streets near Beverly Cove to the older two and three family blocks off Cabot Street, are full of homes built long before central air or electric cooking were standard. A lot of that original wiring is still in the walls. Knob and tube, cloth-insulated conductors, and 60 amp fuse services are common finds once we open a panel here. Plenty of houses got a bump to 100 amps at some point, often decades ago, and that was fine for the load at the time. It is not fine for a house that now has central AC, an electric dryer, a range, and a charger all pulling at once.
We also still run into Federal Pacific Stab-Lok and Zinsco panels in this town. Those are a separate issue from service size, but the two often show up together in a house that has not had electrical work done since the 1960s or 70s. If your panel is one of these and undersized on top of it, an upgrade solves both problems in one project instead of two.
What the Work Involves
The utility owns the drop, the transformer, and the meter. Brandon’s job is everything on your side of the meter: the service entrance conductors, the meter socket if it needs replacing, the mast if it needs to go from 100 to 200 amp rated hardware, and the panel itself with its breakers.
On upgrade day, the utility has to disconnect power at the street before any of the service equipment gets touched. That outage is usually scheduled, not a surprise, and it typically runs a few hours while the new mast, meter socket, and panel go in and get connected. Wire gauge changes with amperage, so a 200 amp service needs heavier service entrance cable than a 100 amp one, and the breakers in the new panel get sized to match: main breaker, branch breakers, and any dedicated circuits you are adding at the same time. Once everything is landed and the panel is labeled, the utility comes back to reconnect and energize the new service.
What It Costs
Most 100 to 200 amp service upgrades in Beverly run between {PRICE_LOW} and {PRICE_HIGH}. What moves that number: whether the mast and service entrance conductors need full replacement, whether the meter socket is being relocated, how much conduit or trenching is involved if the service is underground, and how many circuits get added or reworked once the new panel is in. A straightforward overhead service on an accessible wall costs less than one where the mast has to be relocated or the entrance point moves.
How Long It Takes
A typical service upgrade takes one day of on-site work. The outage itself, once the utility disconnects, is usually a few hours. What adds time is scheduling: the utility has to coordinate the disconnect and reconnect around the electrician’s work, and the town inspection has to happen before the utility will reconnect permanently. Between permit filing, utility scheduling, and inspection, plan on the whole project taking one to two weeks start to finish, even though the actual work at the house is a single day.
Common Questions
How do I know if my house needs a service upgrade instead of just a new panel?
If your panel is rated 60 or 100 amps and you are adding major loads like central air, an EV charger, or an electric heat pump, that is a capacity problem, which means a service upgrade. If your panel is a Federal Pacific Stab-Lok or Zinsco brand, or it is simply old and worn out, that is a condition problem, which is a panel replacement. Brandon can tell you which one you actually need in a few minutes on site.
Will I lose power for the whole day during a service upgrade?
No. The outage happens once the utility disconnects the drop, and it typically lasts a few hours while the mast, meter, and panel get replaced and reconnected. It is scheduled ahead of time, not a surprise.
Does a 200 amp service add value if I am not adding any big appliances right now?
It can, especially in Beverly's older housing stock where buyers are wary of knob and tube and undersized services. It also future-proofs the house for a heat pump or EV charger down the road without another full project.
Is this work permitted in Beverly?
Yes. Service upgrades require a permit and a City of Beverly inspection before the utility will reconnect permanently. That inspection is what confirms the work meets Massachusetts electrical code.
Permits and Inspection
Service upgrades are permitted work in Massachusetts, full stop. Brandon pulls the permit, the City of Beverly inspects the completed work, and the utility will not give permanent reconnection until that inspection signs off. This is the difference between a licensed electrician and someone working off the books: a permitted job gets checked by a third party who has no stake in cutting corners. If you are ever selling the house, a permitted service upgrade shows up clean on record. An unpermitted one is a problem for the next owner to find. [EXTERNAL LINK: Massachusetts electrical code (527 CMR) reference, for homeowners who want to see the actual amperage and clearance standards this work is inspected against]
Contact information
Reach Out for Electrical Service Upgrades
Call {PHONE} to get a service upgrade scheduled or just to ask questions about what your current panel and service size can actually support. Belfiore is a Salem-based company working across Beverly and the rest of the North Shore, and this kind of upgrade is a large share of the electrical calls we get from houses built before 1940.
Talk to Brandon
Brandon left union electrical work to run the electrical side of his brothers’ plumbing and heating business, so he has seen this exact situation in a lot of old North Shore houses before it was his own company doing the work. If you are not sure whether your house needs 100 or 200 amps, or whether the panel itself is the bigger problem, he will look at what you have got and walk you through it plainly, no upsell.