Texas homeowners typically pay between $1,800 and $4,500 to upgrade an electrical panel, depending on where in the state you live, the scope of the job, and how much of the service entrance needs to change alongside the panel itself. That's a wide band — and the difference between the low and high end is almost never the panel itself. It's labor market, permit process, and utility company.
Texas also has a permit and licensing system that works differently from many other states. There's no single statewide building code — whether you need a permit at all depends on whether you're inside city limits. And the credential to look for on any contractor is not a general contractor's license but a TECL number issued by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Getting those two details wrong before you hire is how homeowners end up with unpermitted work that surfaces at resale or after a claim.
A standard 200-amp panel swap in Texas runs $1,800–$3,800 for most homeowners, with the panel, labor, permit, and utility coordination included. Full-scope jobs that also replace the meter base or service entrance cable add $1,500–$3,500 to that figure. Austin typically lands at the higher end; Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth at the lower end of the range.
At a glance
- Typical cost
- $1,800–$3,800 100A→200A, all-in
- Timeline
- 1–2 weeks permit to restored power
- Utility
- CenterPoint, Oncor, AEP your electrician handles coordination
- Permit
- Your electrician files it TECL number required
- Rebate
- None available 25C expired Dec 31, 2025
- Code
- 2023 NEC surge device + outdoor disconnect required
Texas cost ranges at a glance
The table below covers the most common upgrade scenarios Texas homeowners face. Prices reflect licensed labor, materials, permit fee, and utility coordination — the complete job as it should be quoted.
| Upgrade scenario | Typical Texas range | What drives that number |
|---|---|---|
| 200-amp panel swap, same location, no service-entrance changes | $1,800–$3,200 | Straightforward labor, one day |
| 200-amp panel + new meter base + new service entrance cable | $3,500–$5,500 | Utility-side work adds scope and coordination time |
| 200-amp panel + interior relocation | $4,500–$7,500 | Moving the panel means rerouting all branch circuits |
| 100-amp to 200-amp upgrade (service and panel) | $2,500–$4,500 | New service entrance cable typically required |
| FPE/Zinsco panel replacement | $2,800–$4,800 | Safety-flagged panels attract additional inspection scope |
| EV charger circuit added during upgrade | +$400–$1,200 | Incremental cost when done at the same time as the panel swap |
What moves the price
Texas electricians billing $90–$150 per hour for licensed journeyman work are operating in a competitive labor market — electrician wages run about 7% below the national median here, which is one reason Texas panel upgrades often land below coastal-state prices for equivalent work. But several job-specific factors can push costs well above those baseline ranges.
Service entrance condition. The panel itself is rarely the expensive part. If the meter base, service entrance cable (the thick wiring that runs from the street into your home), or the mast it runs through also need replacement, that's where costs climb — utilities often require it before they'll reconnect your power. Quotes that mention only the panel and skip mention of the service entrance should prompt a direct question: "Is the meter base and cable included?"
Panel location. A panel on an exterior wall of a garage is a half-day job. A panel deep inside a finished basement, inside a closet, or on the second floor of a multi-story home is a full day, sometimes more. Any time a licensed electrician has to reroute branch circuits because the panel is moving, you're looking at a substantially different project.
FPE and Zinsco panels. Older Texas homes — particularly those built in the 1960s through 1980s — sometimes still have Federal Pacific Electric (Stab-Lok) or Zinsco panels. Both have documented failure histories and tend to attract closer inspector scrutiny and additional scope. If a home inspection flagged either of these brands, budget toward the higher end of the range. If you're buying or selling: many Texas homeowners insurers now decline to write or renew policies on homes with these panels, and sellers increasingly face a replace-or-reduce-price ultimatum at closing. Replacement is rarely optional at that point.
NEC 2023 code requirements. Texas adopted the 2023 National Electrical Code statewide effective September 1, 2023. Under that code, all panel upgrades across the state now require a whole-home surge protector and an exterior emergency disconnect — a shutoff box mounted outside the home. Both are modest additions — usually $200–$400 combined — but they show up on quotes from code-compliant electricians and are sometimes missing from low-bid quotes.
Texas electrician rates vary enough between Houston, Dallas, and Austin that a single national estimate won't tell you much. Connect with licensed TECL-holding electricians in your area for a real load calculation and written quote.
City-by-city breakdown
Texas is large enough that labor costs differ meaningfully across major metros. Here's how the same standard 200-amp panel swap typically prices out by city:
| Metro area | Standard 200A swap | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Houston / Galveston Bay | $1,800–$3,200 | CenterPoint utility; permit $50–$295 depending on city |
| Dallas–Fort Worth | $2,000–$3,500 | Oncor utility; highest median electrician wages in TX ($30.06/hr) |
| Austin | $2,200–$3,800 | Austin Energy utility + $185 permit + $220 Austin Energy service application fee |
| San Antonio | $1,900–$3,400 | CPS Energy utility; requires CPS approval for reconnection |
| El Paso | $1,600–$2,800 | Lowest electrician wages in TX ($23.14/hr median); AEP service area |
| Rural / unincorporated areas | $1,500–$2,800 | May have no permit requirement; electric cooperative territory varies |
Austin stands out because of an additional cost layer: Austin Energy charges a $220 service application fee on top of the city's $185 permit fee. That's $405 in fees before labor starts — and it's not optional. Quotes from Austin-area electricians should include both line items.
Permits and the TECL requirement
Texas does not have a uniform statewide building code. Whether a permit is required depends entirely on where the home is located.
Inside any major city — Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Fort Worth, Arlington — a permit is required for a panel upgrade. The city's building department processes it, and a licensed municipal or TDLR inspector signs off before power is restored. Permit fees across Texas cities typically run $50–$300, depending on jurisdiction and scope.
In unincorporated county areas, there may be no permit requirement at all. This doesn't mean skipping permits is smart — unpermitted work creates problems with homeowner's insurance and appears on disclosure forms at resale. Work to NEC standards regardless, and ask your electrician what the local permitting authority requires for your specific address.
The more important credential to verify is the TECL number. Any company contracting for electrical work in Texas must hold a TDLR Electrical Contractor License. The TECL number is distinct from an individual electrician's journeyman or master license — it licenses the company, not just the person doing the work. Legitimate Texas electricians display their TECL number on their trucks, business cards, and written estimates.
What the permit buys you: a TDLR-licensed inspector (or a city inspector operating under a local program) must verify code compliance before the panel is energized. That inspection is how problems get caught before they become fires. An electrician who suggests skipping the permit to "save you money" is saving themselves the oversight, not you the cost.
A note on DIY: even where Texas law allows homeowners to pull their own permit, utilities will not reconnect power to a panel that hasn't passed inspection — and that inspection requires a licensed electrician's work.
Utility coordination in Texas
For a panel upgrade, what matters is which company physically delivers electricity to your home — called your transmission and distribution utility, or TDU. The TDU controls the meter and has to coordinate the power cutoff and reconnection around your panel work. Who that is depends entirely on where in Texas you live.
The four major Texas TDUs, and the metro areas they serve:
- CenterPoint Energy — Houston, Beaumont, Galveston Bay area
- Oncor — Dallas–Fort Worth, Waco, Midland-Odessa, Tyler, Wichita Falls
- Austin Energy — Austin city limits (municipally owned)
- CPS Energy — San Antonio (municipally owned)
- AEP Texas — Corpus Christi, Laredo, Abilene, west Texas
For most residential panel upgrades, the TDU sends a crew to disconnect the meter before work begins and reconnect it after the inspection passes. In most Texas cities this happens within 1–5 business days of the permit being approved. After inspection, reconnection typically takes 1–3 business days — though CenterPoint and Oncor both have online scheduling options that can shorten that window.
One Texas-specific note for homes in deregulated areas: your retail electric provider (REP) — Reliant, TXU, Gexa, and hundreds of others — sells you electricity but has nothing to do with the panel upgrade. The TDU handles the physical grid connection regardless of which REP you're with. Don't call your REP about a panel upgrade; contact the TDU directly or let your electrician handle the coordination.
What no rebates means for your budget
Texas has no statewide energy efficiency program. Unlike California, New York, or Massachusetts — where utility rebates or state programs can offset panel upgrade costs by $500 to $4,000 — Texas homeowners pay full price.
The federal Section 25C Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit, which previously covered panel upgrades up to $600, expired December 31, 2025 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. It is not available for work performed in 2026.
Utility rebate programs from Oncor, CenterPoint, Austin Energy, and CPS Energy exist but are focused on HVAC equipment and heat pumps — not panels. If your panel upgrade is bundled with a qualifying heat pump installation, ask your contractor whether the heat pump portion can be submitted for a rebate. For the panel itself, there's no rebate in Texas
The upside of Texas's rebate landscape: electrician labor runs meaningfully below the national median, and the competitive market — particularly in Houston and DFW — means multiple genuine bids are usually available. That competition is your best cost-control lever, since you're not relying on program funding.
A panel upgrade in Texas should come with a written quote, a TECL number, and a permit included in the price. Get matched with pre-screened licensed electricians in your city.
How to get a fair quote
Before getting quotes, confirm you actually need a full service upgrade. If you only need more circuits in one area — a garage workshop, a backyard structure, or a new HVAC unit — a sub-panel fed from your existing main panel is often a fraction of the cost. See our guide on sub-panel vs. full upgrade if you're unsure which applies to your situation.
Three bids is the minimum for a job of this size. Texas's market is competitive enough that bids on equivalent scope can vary by $800–$1,500 between contractors — not because of quality differences, but because some crews are busier and price accordingly. Getting one quote and accepting it is leaving money on the table.
When reviewing bids, confirm each quote explicitly answers these questions:
- Is the permit fee included, or is it billed separately?
- Is the meter base and service entrance cable included, or quoted separately?
- Is whole-home surge protection (now required statewide under NEC 2023) included?
- What is the contractor's TECL number, and is it active on TDLR's site?
- Who handles TDU coordination — the contractor or the homeowner?
- What is the timeline from permit to restored power?
A quote that doesn't answer the meter base and service entrance question is the most common way panel upgrade costs inflate after work starts. The electrician opens the wall, discovers the service entrance cable needs replacing, and it becomes a change order. Watch for single-number quotes with no line-item breakdown — a legitimate Texas quote should show the panel, meter base, service entrance cable, permit fee, surge protector, and utility coordination as separate items, or explicitly state which are included. A quote that just says "$2,800 — panel upgrade" tells you nothing about what happens when the meter base also needs work.
For a full breakdown of what a panel upgrade should include — and what questions to ask before signing — see our hiring guide for panel upgrades. For how Texas costs compare to national averages by amperage tier, see our full cost guide. If you're upgrading because of an EV charger, see our Texas EV charger panel upgrade guide — it covers whether an upgrade is actually necessary before you commit, plus the AC load factor that makes the math different here than in most states. If your project is specifically a 200-amp upgrade — or you're weighing whether to go to 200 or 400 amps — see the 200-amp panel upgrade Texas guide for permit process, NEC 2023 requirements, and utility coordination specifics.