Electrical Los Gatos

Wiring Los Gatos homes, from online panel permits to hillside batteries

Most Los Gatos electrical work starts in the Town's online permit system, which takes a service panel repair or replacement of up to 200 amps directly. Solar can be permitted instantly through SolarAPP+, but not together with a panel upgrade. And under Ordinance 2380, adopted in December 2025, a bigger electrical service may be approved only after load calculations that count power management, once state agencies approve the Town's reach code.

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  • Rules on this page checked against 16 public sources, October 2026
The La Cañada Building in downtown Los Gatos
The La Cañada Building in downtown Los Gatos. Photo: Ramkumar Menon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Online panel permit
Repair or replacement of a service panel, 200 amps or less
SolarAPP+ leaves out
Panel upgrades, ground mounts and standalone batteries
Bigger service
Load calculation with power management first, per Ordinance 2380
Electricity supplier
Silicon Valley Clean Energy; PG&E delivers it

Permits and local rules

Los Gatos documents that settle an electrical question

  1. Ordinance 2380: electric readiness for alterations

    Adopted December 2, 2025, the ordinance adds Section 150.0(w) to the Town's Energy Code. Where kitchen circuits or receptacles are added or altered under an electrical permit, a 50-amp range circuit or a pathway for one goes in, with panel space reserved and marked. Branch-circuit work within 3 feet of a gas dryer or gas water heater, or within 10 feet of a designated heat pump water heater location, brings a 30-amp circuit or pathway. Repairs, and projects that would not otherwise need an electrical permit, are exempt. The Town's codes page says the reach code applies once state agencies approve it.

    Source: Town of Los Gatos, Ordinance 2380 (losgatosca.gov)

  2. Instant solar permits through SolarAPP+

    The Town issues an instant building permit for solar approved through SolarAPP+, but only to contractors holding a CSLB license, who must also confirm a Town business license; owners without a license use the traditional permit. Eligible projects are new, roof-mounted systems on single-family houses, with solar and storage each 38.4 kW or less, an electric service of 400 amps or less, and a 225-amp service disconnect and busbars. Standalone storage, ground mounts, building-integrated systems and electrical service panel upgrades are excluded.

    Source: Town of Los Gatos Building Division (permits.losgatosca.gov)

  3. Building Division answers on small electrical jobs

    The Building Division's FAQ settles three points that come up often. A one-story detached shed of 120 square feet or less and no more than 15 feet tall needs no building permit, but electrical or plumbing work inside a detached accessory structure does. Arc-fault protection is required for 15- and 20-amp receptacles in sleeping rooms of new construction and in an entirely new bedroom added to a house, but not when an existing bedroom is only expanded. And replacing the electrical service means bonding the gas line, typically with a jumper from water to gas at the water heater.

    Source: Town of Los Gatos Building Division (losgatosca.gov)

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

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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.

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

Few new houses, many pre-1941 ones, and a fire-zone south end

Los Gatos was mostly built before electric-ready codes existed. The Town's housing element counts 60 percent of its homes as detached single-family houses and 13 percent as attached ones, and only 342 units, 2.6 percent of the stock, went up after 2010. Because the 2025 state code already asks new buildings for nonpolluting equipment and prewiring, the Town aimed its reach code at existing houses instead. Downtown, the Town Code requires planning approval before any exterior alteration of a pre-1941 house, so electrical work that changes the outside should be raised with the Planning Division before it is designed. Southern Los Gatos lies in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, and the Town tells residents to prepare for PG&E power shutoffs, which is why home batteries come up so often.

Part by part

Hillside south and historic downtown: why the address matters

  • The southern Los Gatos hills

    The Town's wildfire page places southern Los Gatos in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, and its shutoff page warns that PG&E may cut power on high-risk days, aiming to notify customers 48 hours ahead. Owners here ask most about batteries and backup power, so the storage location rules decide early where the equipment can sit on a sloping lot.

  • Almond Grove, Broadway, Fairview Plaza and University-Edelen

    In these historic districts, and on any pre-1941 house, exterior alterations need planning approval. For solar, the design guidelines ask that panels and piping be part of the architecture and not damage or obscure character-defining features, while metal used for utility services is accepted among traditional elements. Talk to Planning before new conduit is routed or a meter is moved on a street-facing wall.

The work

From a same-size panel to a home battery: common Los Gatos requests

  1. A same-size panel, permitted online

    Repairing or replacing an existing service panel of 200 amps or less is one of the residential permits the Town issues through its online system, and the Town estimates the application at about 20 minutes once an account is registered. A contractor needs a current Town business license to use it. Battery work, and solar that does not qualify for SolarAPP+, cannot ride on that permit and starts as a building pre-application instead. Before work begins, the portal also shows a parcel's issued permits from 1994 on; older records are on Laserfiche or microfiche at the counter.

  2. Asking for more amps

    In the electric readiness section the Town wrote into its Energy Code through Ordinance 2380, an increase in a building's service capacity is permitted only when calculations under California Electrical Code Article 220.83, and Article 220.87 where metered data exists, show future loads exceeding the present service. Those calculations must count at least one power management or circuit-controlling device, a 120-volt water heater, dryer or range, or circuit control between the house and a charging receptacle. An upgrade driven only by loads the section does not regulate is exempt.

  3. Replacing a failed air conditioner

    The Town's AC-to-heat-pump rule is triggered only when an air conditioner is installed or replaced, not when one is repaired and not when a furnace fails. The new system either makes a heat pump the primary heat source or meets added duct leakage, airflow and fan efficacy tests. The Town's reach code FAQ notes that a heat pump replacing an existing air conditioner usually needs no new wiring, because the two draw similar power, while a conventional unit may bring a review of electrical load calculations.

  4. A battery for shutoff days

    The Town's amended residential code limits where an energy storage system may go: a detached garage or accessory building, an attached garage separated from the living space, outdoors at least 3 feet from doors and windows into the home and never above or below an emergency escape opening, or a utility room or closet with finished or noncombustible walls. It may not go in a bedroom or a closet that opens into one. Rooms and attached garages holding a battery need smoke alarms, plus an interconnected listed heat alarm wherever a smoke alarm cannot be installed.

  5. Outdoor lighting that stays on your lot

    The Town's Residential Design Guidelines ask that every permanent exterior light fixture be shielded so no bulb shows, with the light aimed at the ground instead of spilling onto neighboring parcels or glaring at nearby homes, and they prefer decorative residential fixtures over purely utilitarian security lights. On a historic property, the Historic Preservation Committee can, if the owner asks, advise on proposed work that includes installing lighting fixtures, which is worth doing before new porch or path lights go onto a Victorian.

Before you hire

Settle these with whoever wires your Los Gatos house

  • Ask whether the panel job fits the Town's online permit, and whether the contractor's Town business license is current.
  • If the plan adds service capacity, ask to see the Article 220 load calculation and which power management device it counts.
  • For solar plus a panel upgrade, ask how the work will be split, since SolarAPP+ will not take the upgrade.
  • For a battery, ask exactly where it will sit and which smoke and heat alarms the inspector will expect.
  • Check the C-10 Electrical classification on the contractor's CSLB license record before you sign anything.

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

Questions

Los Gatos owners ask about panels, solar and backup power

Can a Los Gatos panel replacement be permitted online?

Yes, if the existing service panel is 200 amps or less and is being repaired or replaced. The Town lists it among the residential permits in its online system, alongside copper repipes and same-type water heaters. The contractor needs a current Town business license to apply. Other electrical work, including batteries and solar that does not qualify for SolarAPP+, begins as a building pre-application through the same portal.

Will Los Gatos approve a 400-amp service for our chargers and heat pumps?

Ordinance 2380 ties any increase in service capacity to load calculations under California Electrical Code Article 220.83, or 220.87 where metered data exists, that show future loads exceeding the current service, with at least one power management device or a similar measure counted. The Town says its reach code applies once state agencies approve it, so ask the Building Division which rules govern your application date.

Our air conditioner quit. Does the Town make us buy a heat pump?

Only if you replace it. The Town's reach code FAQ says a broken air conditioner may be repaired, and the rule is triggered by installing or replacing one: the new system is either a heat pump or an air conditioner with added efficiency measures. A failed furnace does not trigger it, although the Bay Area Air District's zero-emission standard for furnace replacements begins in 2029.

We want a backup battery for our hillside house. Can it go in a hall closet?

Possibly. The Town's amended residential code allows a storage system in an enclosed utility closet or storage space whose walls and ceilings are finished or noncombustible; unfinished wood framing must be covered with 5/8-inch Type X gypsum board, and the door must be solid or fire-rated and self-closing. It cannot be a bedroom or a closet that opens into one.

Do we need a permit to run power to a small shed in Los Gatos?

Yes for the electrical work, even when the shed itself needs none. The Building Division says a one-story detached shed of 120 square feet or less, no taller than 15 feet, needs no building permit, but electrical or plumbing work in a detached accessory structure does. Zoning setbacks may still apply, so check placement with the Planning Division.

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.

  • losgatosca.gov: Building (losgatosca.gov)
  • permits.losgatosca.gov: Building (permits.losgatosca.gov)
  • permits.losgatosca.gov: Apply for an Electrical Service Panel (permits.losgatosca.gov)
  • permits.losgatosca.gov: Apply Directly for a Residential SolarAPP Permit (permits.losgatosca.gov)
  • losgatosca.gov: Faq (losgatosca.gov)
  • losgatosca.gov: Current Adopted Codes (losgatosca.gov)
  • losgatosca.gov: Ord 2380 REPEALING CHAPTER 6 AND CHAPTER 9 BUILDING CODES (losgatosca.gov)
  • losgatosca.gov: Reach Code FAQ 2025 Council Meetings V1 (losgatosca.gov)
  • losgatosca.gov: 3 Appendix B (losgatosca.gov)
  • losgatosca.gov: 985 (losgatosca.gov)
  • losgatosca.gov: Historic Preservation Town Code (losgatosca.gov)
  • losgatosca.gov: Wildfire Preparedness (losgatosca.gov)

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