"Jeffrey J. Kosowsky"

The job involves:
1. Attaching to existing electric company service at the drop (about
20 feet above ground where it enters the house from the street)
2. Running new cable/conduit from the drop to a new outdoor ground
level electric meter with new 200A main breaker
3. Running cable into basement and then about another 25 feet to
current location of old 100A box

Standard stuff. No big deal.

4. Installing new 200A 42 circuit panel alongside old 100A panel
5. Making existing 100A panel into a subpanel of the new panel and
connecting to new panel. I believe this involves separating the
grounds from commons on the subpanel and adding a 100A breaker to
the new main panel.

Half assed shortcut, IMO. Rip out the old panel, stick in a new one with
modern hardware and breakers. This should be no big deal. By leaving your
old panel in place, he's saving a lot of time - time that it sounds like
he's quoting you anyway! Further, you just paid 3 freak'n grand and you're
still stuck with a bunch of (100 year?) old gear.

6. Sinking new grounding bars to provide ground service (since the old
water pipe method is no longer to code)
7. Ripping out the old 100A main breaker switch and wiring that
originally went from the drop to the old panel

Still no big deal.

Sounds to me like this job should be 800-1500 bucks, but I can't see your
basement from here, nor your 100 year old wires.

I'd get another quote.

Using the Yellow Pages? It's a sure way to get a get a greedy moron over to
your house.

Maybe call a HVAC contractor or two and see who they use for their
electrical. He's probably unlisted. People upgrade their panels all the
time to handle new air conditioners.


- Nate