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What is a Service Upgrade
What is a service upgrade?
Outgrowing your panel?
Adding high-draw appliances that exceed your existing service capacity can trigger a service upgrade.
Adding an EV charger
Adding a HVAC unit
Whole home electrification
Induction cooktops/ranges
Hot tubs, pool heaters, and electric water heaters
Signs you might need an upgrade
Panel is out of space
Panel is outdated and no longer code compliant
Main breaker is below 200A
Adding EV charger, solar, battery, or other large appliance
Costly electrical utility upgrades
Why does this process take so long?
Multiple parties need to coordinate, and they don't all move at the same speed.
ADDING APPLIANCES
Homeowner wants to add an appliance, like an EV charger or heat pump.
LOAD CALCULATION
Electrician/installer assess and calculates existing load to determine if current service is sufficient.
SERVICE UPGRADE REQUEST
If it exceeds capacity, you can request a service upgrade from your utility. Note that service upgrades typically involve substantial costs, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars.
INSTALLATION
The utility schedules and performs the work, but backlogs are common. Wait times can stretch several months depending on local demand.
How can SPAN help me avoid a service upgrade?
involved?
approval
required?
Traditional service upgrade
3-9 months
Permit review, utility queue placement, meter technician scheduling, installation work, and final inspection.
Multiple parties coordinating
Homeowner, contractor, utility, authority holding jurisdiction.
Yes
Utility may also request additional upgrades such as transformer or moving above ground lines to underground per new guidelines.
Zero visibility
No energy insights or actionable home data; no smartphone or tablet app dashboard.
SPAN Energy Intelligence
Days to weeks after permit approval
Installation proceeds independently while AHJ processes permit.
Homeowner & electrician
Simple, direct communication between homeowner and electrician. No utility involvement or coordination needed.
No
AHJ approval based on local code and permit guidelines. Utility will not need to coordinate additional work and scope.
Learn from deep energy insights
360-degree view of your home’s energy from a smartphone or tablet helps you save more.
SPAN PowerUp
Patent-pending SPAN PowerUpTM software automatically adjusts loads in the home to safely and comfortably stay within lower utility service sizes. PowerUp is pre-installed in every smart panel with SPAN Energy Intelligence and is the first smart panel to meet the strict UL 3141 standard for Power Control Systems (PCS). Note that PowerUp must be configured and enabled by your installer during commissioning to activate these load-management capabilities.
- SPAN provides a powerful electrical foundation to support homeowners who are ready to add large loads without utility involvement
- Homeowners are in control of what appliances PowerUp manages and can prioritize preferences on the fly
Certifications: UL 67, UL 916, UL 869A, UL 3141 [PCS]
Built-in protection, built for power
SPAN PowerUp automatically balances your home's electricity use in real time, so you can add EV chargers, heat pumps, and other major appliances without exceeding your home's existing electrical service capacity.
When multiple high-power appliances run at once, PowerUp intelligently manages circuits to keep your home safely under its current limit — no electrical utility upgrade required. Homeowners stay in control, with the ability to pre-set which circuits and appliances are managed, ensuring power goes where it's needed most.
Service upgrade FAQs
Avoid a service upgrade with SPAN
Talk to a SPAN expert about your home's electrical capacity.
Talk to a SPAN expert about your home's electrical capacity.
