I am trying to get an idea of what is a "normal" hourly rate for an
electrician. My reason for asking is that I would like to find an
electrician that I can use who would bill me "time and materials" -- that
is, "X" amount per hour plus the cost of materials. That way, when I have
electrical work that needs to be done, I can skip all of the back and forth
let-me-give-you-an-estimate for each and every job. I can have the company
send someone out and know they can just do the work and bill me by the hour
plus materials.

For example, if an electrical contracting company said our charge is $120
for the first hour, then $80 for each hour after that, plus the cost of
materials, I would be fine with that.

Today, I needed a simple job done -- replace a 30-foot length of 220V 10/3
wire that runs from the main panel box to the cut-off box outside for the AC
condenser unit. It is all easily accessible in a high ceiling basement and
the line needs to go through a plain cinder block wall. The line needs to
be replaced because the outside insulation on the portion that is on the
outside of the house is coming off almost completely leaving the black and
white insulated wires exposed to the elements. I thought the person coming
out would just do the work and bill me for his time and materials. Instead,
he insisted on preparing a whole work order which I agreed to, and then he
will come back tomorrow and do the work. The cost is $395 based on two
hours of work at $175/hour (his time estimate), plus materials.

I agreed to have it done simply because I need it done, and because it is
for a house I own that others live in so I want it done by a licensed
electrician rather than do it myself.

But that started me wondering -- if I have a lot of other electrical work
that I want done (which I do) in two other houses that I own, do I want to
be paying $175 and hour for an electrician? I don't know what the company
is paying it's worker, but I'm guessing less than $50 per hour. Throw
another $25 per hour on for benefits, down time, or whatever and that still
leaves the company making $100 an hour to cover it's overhead, insurance,
etc.

I am definitely not cheap, so it's not about me wanting to nickel and dime
anyone. But isn't $175 an hour for an electrician over the top?

I live in New Jersey.