Electrician in Long Beach

Long Beach is an old city by Southern California standards. The city's housing element says most of its homes are more than fifty years old, and about six in ten households rent, so the work splits between older houses and apartment buildings: original panels, aging unit wiring, and remodels layered over first-generation circuits.

Historic districts and the coastal zone can change the permit route for outside work here, so we check the address first and put the price in writing after a site visit.

What we do in Long Beach

Everything we do in Long Beach, with what each job usually involves here. The photos are from our own jobs.

Panel upgrades in Long Beach

Panel and subpanel changeouts and service upgrades, with SCE's approval and meter work coordinated, and historic-district clearance first where it applies.

More on panel upgradesCall (844) 430-7681

EV charger installation in Long Beach

Level 2 chargers for houses and apartment garages, with the load calculation the city's EV checklist asks for, and SCE's approval when a meter is added or moved.

More on EV charger installationCall (844) 430-7681

Electrical repair & troubleshooting in Long Beach

Tripping breakers, dead outlets and flickering lights in older houses and apartments, and faults on shared and common-area circuits.

More on electrical repair & troubleshootingCall (844) 430-7681

Rewiring in Long Beach

Rewiring older houses in the historic districts with as little change to the exterior as possible, and unit-by-unit upgrades in occupied apartment buildings.

More on rewiringCall (844) 430-7681

Lighting & ceiling fans in Long Beach

Recessed and kitchen lighting in remodels, fixtures that suit older interiors, and common-area and exterior lighting for apartment buildings.

More on lighting & ceiling fansCall (844) 430-7681

Outlets, GFCI & new circuits in Long Beach

Grounded and GFCI outlets in place of two-prong originals, 240-volt circuits for heat pumps and dryers, and outdoor outlets for patios and garages.

More on outlets, GFCI & new circuitsCall (844) 430-7681

Commercial electrical in Long Beach

Tenant improvements, lighting and dedicated circuits for storefronts and offices, and meter banks and common-area work for apartment owners and property managers.

More on commercial electricalCall (844) 430-7681

Also: subpanels, dedicated circuits, 240-volt outlets for dryers and ranges, exterior and security lighting, hard-wired smoke alarms, and small repairs of every kind.

What's common in Long Beach homes

Most Long Beach homes are more than half a century old, and most households rent, so older single-family houses and apartment buildings each bring their own electrical needs.

• Older houses in the historic districts. Original or patched wiring, small services and limited outlets, in neighborhoods where anything added to the outside of the house is reviewed first. Interior rewiring is planned to change as little as possible outside.
• Apartments and multi-unit buildings. A large share of the city's homes are in apartment buildings, where meter banks, a house panel for common areas and each unit's panel all need attention. The city runs a voluntary seismic retrofit program aimed at about 3,100 possible soft-story buildings, and a retrofit is a good time to look at the electrical too.
• Post-war houses. Original services of 100 amps or less, two-prong outlets and garages that now need a charger are common in the city's 1940s and 1950s houses.

Permits and power in Long Beach

Long Beach (ZIP codes 90802 to 90808, 90810 and 90813 to 90815) is an independent city with its own building department, and Southern California Edison delivers the electricity; LADBS and LADWP have no role here. Long Beach Utilities runs the city's gas, water and sewer, not electricity, and the city is not a Clean Power Alliance member, so SCE is normally both your supplier and your utility.

Permits come from the Building and Safety Bureau of the Community Development Department, which the city called Development Services until 2023. Many simple jobs need no plan review. Under the city's express permit rules, a service upgrade of up to 200 amps (or a like-for-like replacement up to 400 amps) and a like-for-like subpanel replacement can be permitted without plan review, and panel changeouts, along with small solar, battery and EV charger jobs at one- and two-family homes, can be applied for and paid online through the city's customer portal. The express route doesn't apply in a historic district, at a qualified historic building or in the coastal zone, which covers more than 3,100 acres of shoreline from the Los Angeles River to the San Gabriel River; there the regular permit process applies.

Historic districts. The city has 18 designated districts, among them Bluff Park, Belmont Heights, California Heights and Rose Park. Any exterior change there needs a Certificate of Appropriateness, even when no building permit is needed. The city treats utility enclosures and equipment as minor work, so a new meter, a relocated panel or exterior conduit will usually need a staff-level (minor) Certificate of Appropriateness first; we confirm with the city's preservation staff before applying.

Power comes from SCE, which approves the equipment for a panel or service upgrade through its online project portal and schedules the disconnect and reconnect. The city's EV charger checklist asks for a load calculation, and SCE has to be notified, or approve, whenever a meter is added, upgraded or moved. If a charger fits on the panel you have, SCE isn't part of the job at all.

The permits and utilities guide explains the whole picture for the three counties we serve.

Around Long Beach

Signal Hill, completely surrounded by Long Beach, is a separate city with its own building department. Lakewood, Bellflower, Paramount and Carson are separate cities too, and Rancho Dominguez, to the north, is unincorporated, so Los Angeles County Public Works issues permits there. Carson and Paramount belong to Clean Power Alliance, so bills there may show CPA as the supplier. Seal Beach, across the San Gabriel River, is in Orange County. Lakewood Village, despite the name, is a Long Beach neighborhood.

• Signal Hill
• Lakewood
• Bellflower
• Paramount
• Carson
• Seal Beach

See the full list of areas we cover across Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties.