Electrical Panel Upgrade Cost in 2026: 100A vs 200A, Real Numbers, and When You Don't Need One
The quote lands and the number is not for the panel. It is for the service. A homeowner who asked me to look at “a panel upgrade” had been quoted $6,900 by one contractor and $2,400 by another, and neither quote described the same job. One was replacing a 100A panel with another 100A panel and calling it an upgrade. The other was replacing the mast, the meter base, the service-entrance conductors, and the grounding system to deliver a real 200 amps. Both contractors were honest. Only one of them was answering the question the homeowner thought he had asked.