Service entrance replacement in Montréal

In Montréal, redoing the service entrance with a 200 A panel leaves the house without electricity for about six hours; the price is in the written quote, free of charge. Allow about two weeks before the work, as a rule, Hydro-Québec steps included: we handle them.

How much does a service entrance cost in Montréal?

At STM-Électrique, the price of the service entrance and a 200 A panel redone together on a single-family home is in the written quote, free of charge. You get the quote after the visit.

Going to 320 amps costs well more: it’s a job of another scale.

An underground service is priced separately, excluding excavation and the private pole; Hydro-Québec’s fees are added and billed directly by Hydro-Québec. All about underground: underground electrical service.

Mast, meter base, cable: what we redo

What we call the service entrance is the whole outdoor part: the bracket at the top of the mast, the mast itself, the meter base the meter plugs into, then the cable to the service box. The panel takes over inside.

The line with Hydro-Québec is called the connection point. The meter belongs to Hydro-Québec; the mast and the meter base belong to you, and replacing them is done at your expense, by your master electrician.

The service entrance and the panel are very often redone together, and it costs less that way: one disconnection, one job. For the panel alone, see our electrical panel replacement in Montréal page.

The details, part by part: mast, meter base, meter: who pays for what and service entrance.

The signs a service entrance needs redoing

A service entrance doesn’t fail all at once: it deteriorates outdoors, over years, and several signs can be seen from the sidewalk.

• A mast that is no longer plumb: it’s the most reliable sign, and every storm makes the lean worse.
• Rust that runs, swells the metal or goes through the meter base: water is getting in where the live connections are.
• A cracked or frayed cable jacket, loose fasteners, a branch rubbing on the cable.
• A 60 or 100 amp service on a house getting an EV charger or a heat pump: a capacity problem, not a wear problem.

A torn-off cable or a fallen mast is an immediate danger: call Hydro-Québec right away and don’t go near anything. The rest can be planned, and the guide replacing your service entrance: the 6 signs tells you what to do and when.

Older housing: plexes, meters and original service entrances

The 2021 census counts 816,338 occupied dwellings in Montréal. About 66% were built before 1981; 13.2% are apartments in a duplex, and 56.9% are in a building of fewer than five storeys.

In a building of that age, it’s common for the service entrance and the panel to be worn out at the same time.

When several meters are grouped on the same building, it’s a meter stack, and that’s what we redo, as our guide on meter stack replacement explains. For a meter stack, Adam Chirola, our master electrician, expects about six hours without electricity, as for a service entrance.

The permit in Montréal

Montréal has stopped issuing permits for electrical, plumbing and heating work, and refers to provincial regulations; the message appears in 18 of its 19 boroughs. In Saint-Léonard, the Info-permis sheet says it in one line: no permit for strictly electrical work.

What doesn’t change, permit or not: an electrical contractor to do the work, even in your own home, and a declaration of work sent to Hydro-Québec by a master electrician once the installation is ready to be connected.

The permit, when one is needed, is part of our job.

Westmount: Hydro Westmount’s grid

Here, the grid isn’t Hydro-Québec’s: Hydro Westmount, the city’s distributor, maintains it for every home and business. It also appears on the list of municipal networks published by Hydro-Québec.

Our electrician in Westmount page covers our work in that city.

Disconnecting, reconnecting: Hydro-Québec

Every new service entrance involves two operations on the grid: cutting the house’s supply, then restoring it. The forms and the coordination of those two moments are our job.

When the service stays at 200 amps or less, the master electrician can disconnect and reconnect it, with Hydro-Québec’s prior authorization. Above 200 amps, the work falls to Hydro-Québec, and the job follows its calendar.

Between your go-ahead and the job, plan on two weeks as a rule.

The day of the work: about six hours without electricity

Plan for about six hours without power.

In order: we disconnect the power, take down the old installation, install the new mast, meter base and cable, connect your circuits, restore the power, then check and label the panel. The documents then go to Hydro-Québec, and you receive the details of the work.

A house or cottage left disconnected for more than twelve months? Hydro-Québec will only reconnect the installation once it’s brought up to the current standard.

Frequently asked questions