No power, sparks, or a burning smell
Half the house dark, a hot breaker, a buzzing panel, an outlet that scorched. The three checks are above; what is yours to do and what is not.
Duval · St. Johns · Clay · Nassau · English and Spanish
Something in the panel is not right? Call now.
A breaker that will not hold, a burning smell at the panel, half the house dark, a four-point inspection that came back with the panel brand circled: call an electrician who works your part of Jacksonville and the First Coast. Call about panel replacements, rewiring, EV chargers and generators too.
Call now904-867-8658- Duval 904
- St. Johns
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Electrical services
Seven kinds of job. If the house is dark, smells like burning, or something sparked, call; call for everything else.
Panel replacement and upgrades
Federal Pacific, Zinsco and Challenger panels, 100-amp services on a house that now wants a charger and a heat pump, the permit, the surge protector the code adds, and what the quote should list.
Rewiring: aluminum, cloth, knob-and-tube
The 1965–1973 aluminum houses, the cloth wire under the plaster in Riverside and Springfield, and what a repair looks like versus a full rewire.
Four-point inspection repairs
What the Citizens form actually asks about the electrical system, which items are fixes and which are replacements, and the paperwork the insurer wants after.
EV charger installation
A Level 2 charger on a 1990s panel: the load calculation, the permit, the dedicated circuit, and why there is no JEA rebate for it anymore.
Generators and transfer switches
Standby and portable: the transfer switch, JEA's sign-off before installation, the gas permit, and where the unit can sit in a flood zone.
Outlets, lighting, fans, and circuits
GFCI and AFCI protection, a dead outlet, a ceiling fan on a box that was never rated for one, a new circuit for the garage or the Florida room.
Need an electrician?Call 904-867-8658
What is behind the drywall
The house by decade
A First Coast house tells an electrician most of the story by its year. The panel brand, the wire in the walls and the size of the service follow the era it was built in; the insurer's form asks about all three.
Before 1950Springfield, Riverside, Avondale, Ortega, San Marco, Lincolnville
60-amp fuse services, cloth-insulated wire and knob-and-tube remnants under the plaster, two-prong receptacles. The four-point form asks about each by name.
1950s–1960sArlington, Lakewood, the Beaches, Davis Shores
100-amp breaker panels, many of them Federal Pacific Stab-Lok, and from 1965 the first aluminum branch wiring. The panel and the wire are the two calls.
1970s–1990sMandarin, Southside, Orange Park, Argyle
Aluminum wiring through 1973, then copper; Federal Pacific, Zinsco and Challenger panels sold into the 1980s; 150- and 200-amp services that fill up fast today.
1998 and afterNocatee, St. Johns, Oakleaf, Fleming Island, Bartram Park, Yulee
200-amp services, arc-fault breakers from the 2000s, builder-grade panels with no spare spaces. The calls here are chargers, generators and the load calculation.
Aluminum wiring background: Florida Building Commission, Electrical TAC. Read the document
Whose meter is on the house
Four utilities, one metro
The utility owns the service drop and the meter; everything after the meter is yours and the contractor's. A panel or service change needs the utility to pull the meter, and a standby generator needs the utility to know it is there. Which company that is depends on the street.
JEA
Duval, Atlantic Beach, parts of St. Johns, Clay and Nassau
A standby generator installation goes to JEA for review before it is installed; the contractor submits the request.
JEA closed its EV charger incentives to new enrollment in November 2025, so a charger install carries no JEA rebate today.
JEA standby generator request →Beaches Energy Services
Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach, Ponte Vedra Beach, Palm Valley
The municipal utility for the Beaches; the meter pull for a panel change and the reconnect after inspection go through it.
Salt air shortens the life of meter cans and outdoor panels on the island streets; ask about corrosion when the panel is opened.
Beaches Energy →Clay Electric Cooperative
Middleburg, Lake Asbury, parts of Fleming Island, Oakleaf and the Westside
A member-owned cooperative; service upgrades and generator interconnections are coordinated with the co-op.
The account holder is a member; have the account number ready for anything that touches the meter.
Clay Electric →FPL
St. Augustine, Nocatee, Yulee, mainland Nassau, some streets south of Julington Creek
Meter work and service changes are scheduled through FPL once the permit is in hand.
The federal credit for a home EV charger ended for equipment placed in service after June 30, 2026; there is no utility or federal money on the charger now.
FPL →Fernandina Beach and Amelia Island are Florida Public Utilities, and Green Cove Springs runs its own municipal electric; check the bill. This site lists no rebate or credit amounts; each program's page is the source and programs change.
Three rules the job runs on
What the permit office, the code and the insurer require
Three things that decide how an electrical job goes on the First Coast before anyone picks up a tool.
Every electrical job is permitted work
The City of Jacksonville says plumbing, electrical and HVAC work "must be done only by contractors and craftsmen certified in those trades and require separate permits." The 2026 permit exemption for work under $7,500 leaves electrical, plumbing, mechanical, structural and gas work out. The contractor pulls the permit on JaxEPICS.
City of Jacksonville, residential permitsA replaced service gets a surge protector
Jacksonville enforces the 2020 National Electrical Code. Its section 230.67 requires a Type 1 or Type 2 surge protective device on every service that supplies a dwelling, and the rule applies when the service equipment is replaced. A panel quote without one is missing a line.
NEC 2020, 230.67 (Leviton code guide)The insurer asks by name
Citizens requires a four-point inspection on homes more than 20 years old and says hazards such as exposed wiring should be repaired before applying. Its form asks the panel's amperage, brand and model, and whether there is cloth wiring, active knob-and-tube, aluminum branch wiring, double taps or tripping breakers.
Citizens Property Insurance, inspections Read before the inspector comes
Federal Pacific, Zinsco, aluminum: what a four-point inspection flags in a Jacksonville house
Which items on the Citizens form are a repair and which are a replacement, what an aluminum-wiring remediation has to document, and why the inspector wants the panel cover off.
The four-point guide
Service areas
Ten areas across four counties, each with its permit office, its utility, its housing era and what the water did.
Need an electrician?Call 904-867-8658
Questions from the First Coast
A breaker keeps tripping. Can I just replace it with a bigger one?
No. A breaker is sized to the wire behind it, and a bigger breaker on the same wire lets the wire overheat. A breaker that trips repeatedly is reporting an overloaded circuit, a fault, or a failing breaker; the contractor finds which.
My insurer says the panel has to go. Is that a real rule?
It is the insurer's rule, not a code rule, and it is common. Citizens asks for a four-point inspection on homes over 20 years old, and the form records the panel's brand and model. Federal Pacific Stab-Lok, Zinsco and Challenger panels are the brands underwriters most often decline. Replacing the panel is a permitted job; keep the permit and the final inspection for the insurer.
Does a panel replacement need a permit in Jacksonville?
Yes. The City of Jacksonville requires electrical work to be done by a certified or registered contractor under its own permit, and the 2026 exemption for small jobs under $7,500 excludes electrical work. The Beaches, Orange Park, St. Augustine, Fernandina Beach and the counties have their own permit offices, listed on each area page.
What is the surge protector everyone mentions on a panel quote?
The 2020 National Electrical Code, which Jacksonville enforces, requires a Type 1 or Type 2 surge protective device on any service that supplies a dwelling, including when the service equipment is replaced. It sits at or next to the panel. A plug-in strip does not satisfy it.
Is aluminum wiring something I have to rip out?
Not always. Aluminum branch wiring from 1965 to 1973 fails at the connections, not along the wire. A remediation with COPALUM crimps or AlumiConn connectors at every device is accepted by insurers when a licensed electrician documents it; a full rewire is the other route. The Citizens form asks for the documentation either way.
Is there a rebate for an EV charger or a generator?
Not from JEA, which closed its EV incentives to new enrollment in November 2025, and not from the federal credit, which ended for chargers placed in service after June 30, 2026. This site lists no amounts; the program pages are the source.
Electricians for Jacksonville and the First Coast
Electrical work across Duval, St. Johns, Clay and Nassau: no-power calls, panel replacements, rewiring, four-point repairs, EV chargers, generators, outlets and lighting. Any hour, in English or Spanish. About us →
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