A panel upgrade involves four parties: you, us, the electrical inspector, and Avista. Almost every question we get about scheduling comes down to not knowing which one is responsible for what. Here is how it actually breaks down.
Where your equipment ends and Avista's begins
The dividing line is called the service point: where Avista's conductors connect to yours.
Avista owns everything on their side of it: the service conductors coming to the house, the transformer, and the meter itself.
You own everything on your side: the service mast, the meter socket, the service entrance conductors, the panel, and all the wiring beyond.
So the meter is Avista's, and the box it plugs into is yours. That surprises most people, and it is the reason a failing meter socket is your electrician's problem while the meter inside it is not.
The sequence
A service change runs in a fixed order, and each step waits on the one before it.
- We assess the existing service, meter base, mast, grounding and panel, and run a load calculation.
- We pull the electrical permit. In most of the Spokane region that comes from Washington State Labor and Industries; inside the City of Spokane, the city runs its own program.
- We give Avista notice. Avista requires a minimum of 48 hours before disconnecting service or removing a meter lock.
- Avista disconnects and pulls the meter.
- We replace the equipment: meter base, panel, service entrance conductors, and corrected grounding and bonding.
- The inspector inspects the work and posts an approval sticker on the meter socket.
- Avista reconnects and energizes.
Why only Avista cuts the seal
There is a metal seal on your meter, and only Avista personnel are permitted to remove it. This is not a formality. A licensed electrician does not cut a meter seal. Only Avista does that.
It also means we cannot start a service change the moment we arrive. The disconnect has to be scheduled.
The sticker on the meter socket
Avista will only reconnect to equipment that has passed inspection and has a visible inspection sticker posted on the meter socket. No sticker, no reconnection, regardless of whether the work is finished.
This is the single most common reason a panel upgrade takes longer than a homeowner expected. The electrical work might be done in a day. The inspection has to happen, and Avista has to come back.
A passed inspection is not the last word
Worth knowing: Avista's own service requirements state plainly that a passed inspection by the authority having jurisdiction does not constitute approval by Avista, and that Avista has final approval. The work has to satisfy the electrical code and the inspector, and it also has to meet Avista's standards for the equipment they connect to.
What this means for your schedule
The electrical work on a typical residential service change is a one-day job. The overall timeline depends on the permit, Avista's disconnect and reconnect scheduling, and inspector availability: three things that are not ours to control.
What we can do is sequence it properly, give Avista the notice they need, and tell you the plan the morning of rather than leaving you guessing. Anyone who promises you an exact number of hours is guessing about someone else's calendar.
If a panel upgrade is on your list, here's what the job looks like start to finish.
Filed under Troubleshooting & Upgrades.