Portland is a city of old wiring and new loads. Coy Electric works on both — pre-war homes that were never wired for a heat pump or an EV, and commercial spaces being reconfigured for a new tenant.
Much of Portland's housing predates modern electrical demand. Two-prong outlets, 60- and 100-amp services, and original branch circuits are still common inside the city — and they become the limiting factor the moment someone adds a heat pump, an induction range, a hot tub, or a car charger. Most of the calls we take in Portland start there.
Craftsman bungalows, four-squares, and early-1900s housing stock. The common calls here are knob-and-tube evaluation, ungrounded two-prong outlets, undersized services, and adding circuits to kitchens and basements that were never wired for modern loads.
A mix of pre-war homes and infill construction. Older homes often need service and panel work before a heat pump, EV charger, or ADU can be added; the newer builds mostly need added circuits and lighting.
Mid-century and hillside homes with long service runs, detached garages, and exterior lighting needs. Generator and standby power questions come up more often here than in the flat parts of the city.
Ranches and post-war homes, plus a lot of small commercial along the arterials. Panel replacements, aluminum branch-circuit concerns, and lighting retrofits make up most of the work.
Inside the city limits, electrical permits and inspections go through the City of Portland's Permitting & Development bureau; addresses in unincorporated Multnomah, Clackamas, or Washington County go through the county instead. Panel changes, service upgrades, rewiring, new circuits, and most EV charger installations are permitted work. We apply for the permit, schedule the inspection, and carry the job through final sign-off — you don't get handed an open permit at the end.
Most Portland addresses are served by Portland General Electric, with Pacific Power serving parts of the metro. When a service upgrade or meter relocation requires the utility to disconnect and reconnect the service drop, that work has to be scheduled with them — we tell you up front when the utility, rather than us, controls the date.
Portland's commercial corridors turn over constantly, and every new tenant needs the electrical reconfigured for a different use. We handle tenant improvement electrical for office, retail, restaurant, and medical spaces, along with parking lot and security lighting. See the full commercial electrician scope for what that includes.
Our shop is in Oregon City and our electricians work throughout Portland daily. Portland is a service area — we don't keep a second office in the city.
Tell us the address and what's going on — we'll get you a free estimate.
