Nationwide · Licensed electricians in 48 states + DC
Call now to check electrician availability in your area
Electrical Panel Upgrade · Idaho
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.
Population growth around Boise and cold winters drive new circuits, panel upgrades and heat-related loads.
Across the Mountain West, homes deal with dry air, large temperature swings, wildfire seasons and heavy snow at elevation. Permit offices, utilities and housing stock differ by city, which affects how electrical panel upgrade is planned and scheduled. These local guides cover the Idaho cities where we have written specific notes.
Boise's growth has brought a wave of EV chargers, hot tubs, heat pumps and detached shops, and many North End and Bench homes still have the 60 or 100 amp service they were built with. Adding central air or a heat pump to an older home is one of the most common reasons for an upgrade here, given how hot Treasure Valley summers have become.
Utility: Idaho Power
As the Treasure Valley has boomed, many Nampa owners of older homes north of downtown and mid-century houses near Lakeview Park have found that their 60 or 100 amp services cannot carry central air, a heat pump, a hot tub or an EV charger. Homes on larger lots often add shops and outbuildings, which need a subpanel and a feeder sized for welders, compressors and heaters.
Utility: Idaho Power
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: Boise: Electrical permits inside city limits come from the City of Boise's Planning and Development Services; elsewhere in Idaho the state often handles electrical permits. Nampa: Electrical permits inside city limits come from the City of Nampa's building department; areas without a local program are handled by the state.
Boise: Idaho Power. Nampa: Idaho Power.
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.
Call now and we connect you with a licensed electrician who serves your ZIP code.
