Generator installation on the South Shore

On the South Shore, what you pay STM-Électrique for is connecting the generator to the panel, through a 60 A manual or automatic transfer switch, installation included: its price is in the quote, written and free of charge. Buying the unit, its pad and the fuel come on top.

How much does a generator hookup cost on the South Shore?

What we price in the quote is the electrical hookup: a 60 A manual transfer switch or an automatic transfer switch, installed and wired.

The unit, the pad or base and the fuel are extra; we have no package price that would include them.

Your exact amount comes from a free written quote, given after the visit. To prepare it, we ask for your service amperage and photos of the panel. There’s no deposit: you pay when the work is done.

South Shore cities where we connect generators

We work in the five cities of the Longueuil agglomeration and in the cities farther out on the South Shore where we already operate.

• Generator installation in Longueuil, with Saint-Hubert and Greenfield Park.
• Brossard, Boucherville (in French) and Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville (in French).
• Sainte-Julie (in French), Varennes (in French) and Beloeil (in French).
• Châteauguay (in French), Candiac (in French), La Prairie (in French) and Saint-Constant (in French).

Your city isn’t on the list? Leave your contact details: the team will confirm whether a visit is possible.

Single-detached homes: room for a standby

On the South Shore, the single-detached house dominates. In the 2021 census, it makes up 70.7% of occupied dwellings in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, 66.8% in Sainte-Julie, 62.5% in Varennes and 61.9% in Saint-Constant. In Saint-Bruno, 86.1% of households own their home.

A house with a yard is the natural place for a standby generator on its base, outdoors. Many of these homes date from the 1960s and 1970s: 48.3% of dwellings in Saint-Bruno and 33.8% of those in Sainte-Julie were built from 1961 to 1980. Before choosing the unit, we check what the panel can take; see the electrical load calculation.

The location: what Longueuil requires

Where a standby generator goes isn’t yours alone to decide: the municipality has its rules. In July 2025, Longueuil published a fact sheet on the subject. For a house on a regular lot, no permit; the unit goes on the side or at the back, 2 m from the property line if the building has fewer than 7 dwellings, hidden from the street and enclosed in a shelter or a casing that muffles the noise.

Elsewhere on the South Shore, a municipal permit may be required depending on the city: we check it for your address before setting the location, declare the work and apply for the permit when one is required.

Portable or standby: two setups

Portable. It runs on gasoline. For it, we install a power inlet outside and, near the panel, a lever-operated transfer switch; on the day of the outage, you set it outdoors, plug in the cable and make the switchover.

Standby. Connected to propane or natural gas, it lives outdoors on its base. Its automatic transfer switch senses the outage, starts it and transfers the circuits within seconds; when the grid returns, it does the reverse, whether you’re home or travelling.

To estimate the wattage you need, try our generator size calculator.

The transfer switch, in short

Plugging a generator into the dryer outlet, or feeding a wall outlet with a cable that has two male plugs: these setups send current toward Hydro-Québec’s lines. We therefore never connect a generator other than through a transfer switch.

Hydro-Québec’s Conditions of Service (section 15.2.5) spell out why: the switching device must carry a mechanical interlock that makes any coupling of the generator and the grid impossible. The details: the transfer switch.

Generac, Kohler or Siemens

As for units, it’s most often Generac, Kohler or Siemens that we install.

The unit’s warranty comes from the manufacturer. At Generac, most residential standby models are covered by a limited warranty of 5 years or 2,000 hours.

Who does what: the gas, the base, the unit

We do all the electrical work: the circuits to back up, the wiring, the transfer switch, the generator panel, the declaration of work, the municipal permit if one is needed and the switchover test.

Connecting the propane or natural gas is the job of a licensed gas company, which we coordinate with; the unit’s base is up to the general contractor or the supplier.

Hookup day

On the day, the house stays without electricity for a few hours: the transfer switch has to be installed and the chosen circuits moved into the generator panel.

With a standby, the last step is an outage caused on purpose: the generator has to start, switch over and power each planned circuit, then everything returns to the grid. We then show you the maintenance and how to use it. As for the detailed quote, it reaches you 24 to 48 business hours after our assessment.

Outdoors, 6 m or more away

Health Canada says to leave at least 6 metres (20 feet) between any building and a running generator, and never to use one indoors, in the garage or in a shed. Inside the house, Hydro-Québec considers a carbon monoxide alarm essential if you heat with a space heater.

Before the cold, our winter electrical checklist repeats these guidelines, to tick and print.

Frequently asked questions