Electrical Los Altos

Electrical work on Los Altos houses, where new service lines go underground

Los Altos now sends every new or relocated electrical service underground under Chapter 12.38, adopted in October 2025, and treats additions past half the floor area or 750 square feet the same way, adding up three years of permits. Its 2025 reach code asks for 240-volt readiness whenever permitted work changes circuits near a gas dryer or water heater, and for electric-ready conduit beside any new outdoor gas appliance.

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  • Rules on this page checked against 11 public sources, October 2026
Undergrounding chapter
Chapter 12.38, adopted October 28, 2025
Homes built before 1960
45.4 percent, against 22.6 percent countywide
Rooftop solar permit
Issued instantly through SolarAPP+ once payment is complete
Meter connection
PG&E connects after the city's electric meter release inspection

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Free to request, and you agree the scope and price with the person you hire before work starts. In California, a job over $1,000 in labor and materials, or one that needs a building permit, must be done by a contractor licensed by the CSLB in the right class. Ask for the license number and check it at cslb.ca.gov.

The Los Altos History Museum
The Los Altos History Museum. Photo: GualdimG, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Electricians inspecting the electrical panels and meters on a multifamily house
Electricians inspecting the electrical panels and meters on a multifamily house. Photo: Tomwsulcer, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The houses here

Postwar houses on large lots, older than the county's

Los Altos incorporated in 1952 and did most of its growing between 1950 and 1980, on land that had been apricot orchards and summer cottages. Its Housing Element counts 4,732 homes built from 1940 to 1959, the largest group, and puts 45.4 percent of the stock before 1960, against 22.6 percent across Santa Clara County; more than 85 percent of homes are single-family. Those postwar houses are where the city's newer rules land. A large addition to one triggers the undergrounding chapter, a remodeled laundry or a water heater closet picks up 240-volt readiness, and replacing its central air conditioner with another air conditioner rather than a heat pump brings the energy code's attic and fixture measures.

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The work

Electrical work that Los Altos's newer chapters now shape

  1. A new service for an addition

    Chapter 12.38 wants all new and relocated services underground, and it reaches additions of more than half the existing floor area or 750 square feet, leaving out basements and non-habitable space such as garages. Removing roof framing along with the outside walls beneath it, down to the subfloor or slab, is counted as added area. Where poles still carry the lines, the new service drop runs underground from the most convenient existing pole, and extending or relocating overhead lines is prohibited.

  2. Wiring near a gas dryer

    Where permitted work adds or alters a circuit within three feet of a gas or propane dryer, the reach code asks for one of two set-ups. Either a 120/240-volt, three-conductor circuit rated at least 30 amps ends in a receptacle, its unused conductor labeled spare, or a conduit or conductor pathway runs from the main panel to a junction box whose blank cover reads 240V ready. Each choice reserves panel space marked for future use.

  3. Running gas to the patio or pool

    Adding or extending a gas line to a pool or spa heater, sauna, fireplace, outdoor cooking appliance or outdoor heater now brings electrical work with it: conduit or isolated wiring sized for an electric equivalent, a receptacle or junction box within five feet, both ends labeled For Future Electrical Appliance, reserved breakers, and the electric unit's footprint drawn on the plans. A registered design professional or a C-10 electrical contractor certifies the provision. Emergency generators are exempt.

  4. Replacing central air

    Installing a new air conditioner rather than a heat pump on existing ducts brings the adopted energy code's extra measures, among them attic insulation to R-49, air sealing at the ceiling, and attic light fixtures not rated for insulation contact replaced or fitted with a fireproof cover. Those measures fall away when Article 220 load calculations, submitted before permitting, show the existing panel can carry the air conditioner but not a heat pump. A vented attic with knob-and-tube wiring is excused from the insulation step.

  5. Rooftop solar

    SolarAPP+ issues a Los Altos solar permit instantly once payment is complete, for permitted residential main-house rooftops only; ballasted and ground-mounted arrays are not eligible. Only contractors with an active Los Altos business license may use it, applying through an eTRAKiT contractor account and scheduling inspections there, and the inspection is where workmanship and the approved design are checked. Revisions go back through SolarAPP+ and are attached to the permit online.

Permits and local rules

Three Los Altos texts that govern the wiring

  1. Chapter 12.38, Undergrounding Utilities

    Adopted October 28, 2025, the chapter aims to cut the hazards and visual blight of overhead lines. Its addition test cannot be dodged with a series of small additions over three years or two code cycles; the first addition permit's date anchors the count. A home on a standard lot that fronts only one street and is served from rear-yard utilities need not underground its existing service. Otherwise the Building Official may excuse undergrounding only where crossing a neighbor's land is necessary but unavailable, shown with a plan, the neighbors' replies and a utility letter.

    City of Los Altos Municipal Code, Chapter 12.38 (opens in a new tab)

  2. Section 150.0(w) in Chapter 12.16

    The city's 2025 Energy Code amendments add electric readiness to single-family remodels, alterations and additions, covering the range, the dryer, a future heat pump water heater and outdoor gas appliances. Near a gas water heater, a permitted circuit added or altered within three feet, or within ten feet of the space set aside for a heat pump unit, gets a 30-amp, 10 AWG copper circuit or a 240-volt-ready pathway. Projects made up only of medically necessary or seismic safety improvements are exempt, and so is an ADU created inside existing space.

    City of Los Altos Municipal Code, Chapter 12.16 (opens in a new tab)

  3. Required Inspections for Residential Construction

    The Building Division's inspection sheet puts an electric meter release between the drywall inspections and the final. By then device wiring is complete, air conditioning units included, with no open wiring; breakers are in place in the main and sub panels with dedicated circuits labeled; bonding of the hot, cold and gas piping is complete; and the connection to the concrete-encased electrode stays visible through an access panel. The city then delivers the electric release to PG&E so the meter can be connected to the panel.

    Source: City of Los Altos Building Division (losaltosca.gov)

State license for this work: C-10 Electrical. Look up a contractor's license on the CSLB website (cslb.ca.gov).

Before you hire

What to settle with a Los Altos electrician first

  • On an addition, ask whether the plans cross the 50 percent or 750-square-foot line, counting additions from the past three years, before the service is designed.
  • If gas is being run to a fire pit, pool heater or outdoor kitchen, ask who certifies the electric-ready conduit and breakers the reach code requires.
  • Replacing central air with another air conditioner? Ask for the Article 220 load calculation showing whether the panel could carry a heat pump.
  • For solar through SolarAPP+, confirm the installer has an active Los Altos business license and an eTRAKiT contractor account.
  • Check the C-10 Electrical classification and license status on the CSLB website before signing.

Free, no obligation. Next, add your details in the request form.

Questions

Los Altos owners ask about service lines, dryers and permits

Our Los Altos addition is modest. Will the city make us put the power line underground?

Only if the work crosses the chapter's lines. Chapter 12.38 applies to new or relocated services and to additions over 50 percent of the existing floor area or 750 square feet, not counting basements and garages, and it adds up additions made within three years or two code cycles. An existing overhead service that is not moved, on a project below those lines, is not caught by it.

We're redoing the laundry in our Los Altos house but keeping the gas dryer. What will the electrician add?

If the work adds or alters a circuit within three feet of the gas dryer under an electrical permit, the reach code asks for dryer readiness: either a 30-amp, 120/240-volt circuit with the unused conductor labeled spare, or a pathway from the main panel to a junction box marked 240V ready, with breaker space set aside. The gas dryer can stay in service either way.

Does a Los Altos electrical permit expire if the job stalls?

Yes. The Building Division's inspection sheet says a permit expires if work does not start or a signed inspection is not recorded within 365 days of issuance, or within 180 days of the last signed inspection. Cancellation follows automatically after six months with no approved inspection, and on a written request made before the expiration date, the Building Official may extend the permit once, for six months.

Who reconnects the power after a service change in Los Altos?

PG&E connects the meter, but only after the city's electric meter release inspection: devices wired, breakers labeled, bonding done and the ground connection visible through an access panel. The city then sends the release to PG&E. Ask the electrician how that inspection will be timed against the utility's appointment.

Can a rebate help with a new panel in Los Altos?

Not from the city: Los Altos says its own electrification rebate funds have been fully claimed. Silicon Valley Clean Energy, the city's electricity provider, still lists an add-on rebate for an electrical infrastructure upgrade such as a new panel, but only alongside one of its core appliance rebates, so the panel has to be part of a heat pump or induction project.

Where these facts come from

Checked against these public sources in October 2026. Rules and programs change: confirm permit requirements with the city before work starts, and a contractor's license on the CSLB website.

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