Electrical Petaluma

Electrical work in Petaluma, from condemned panels to SolarAPP+ permits

Petaluma issues panel upgrades as over-the-counter permits, but PG&E's gas-meter setback rule can still force a meter move. For a panel that has actually failed, the city will condemn it on a C-10 electrician's written findings, which lets PG&E allow a like-for-like replacement; the panel must then be replaced or taken out of service within 90 days. The city's 2021 all-electric code for new buildings is now only encouraged.

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  • Rules on this page checked against 20 public sources, October 2026

Asked most

Panels, permits and power in Petaluma, answered

Does a new house or a major remodel in Petaluma have to be all-electric?

Not anymore. The 2021 reach code required it for new buildings and for remodels removing more than half the exterior walls or adding more than half the floor area. After the Ninth Circuit's ruling against Berkeley's gas ban, the city stopped requiring it and now only encourages all-electric construction. Replacing appliances in an existing house was never covered.

PG&E says our meter must move for a new panel. Is there another way in Petaluma?

Only if the panel has failed. PG&E's variance covers like-for-like replacement of unsafe panels, meaning panels with melted busing or burned internal parts from arcing that are out of power or on partial power. A C-10 electrician documents that on letterhead, the city issues a letter requiring the change-out, and PG&E reviews each case. An old panel that still works follows the normal upgrade rules.

Can our solar contractor get a Petaluma permit without waiting for plan review?

If the job fits SolarAPP+. Petaluma accepts it for rooftop systems on a permitted main house, with no ballasted racking, from a contractor registered with SolarAPP+, on a parcel outside the city's flood zones; the city publishes a search for flood-zone parcels that cannot use it. Projects outside those limits, ground mounts and flood-zone parcels among them, cannot use it.

White Spanish-style church with twin tiled bell towers against a blue sky in Petaluma, with power lines along the street
White Spanish-style church with twin tiled bell towers against a blue sky in Petaluma, with power lines along the street. Photo: Colin Marquardt, Colin Marquardt, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

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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.

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Permits and local rules

Petaluma paperwork for panels, codes and solar

  1. The unsafe-panel letter for PG&E

    Under PG&E Utility Bulletin TD-7001M-B010, PG&E allows a variance to its gas-meter setback for like-for-like replacement of an unsafe panel when the city asks for it: one that has failed, with melted busing or burned internal parts from arcing, and is out of power or on partial power. In Petaluma the request starts with a C-10 electrician's inspection and a statement of the unsafe conditions on company letterhead, uploaded with the online permit application. The city issues a letter requiring the change-out, the owner gives it to PG&E, and the panel must be replaced or decommissioned within 90 days. PG&E still reviews each case independently.

    City of Petaluma Building Division (opens in a new tab)

  2. The all-electric reach code, adopted and set aside

    The City Council approved an all-electric reach code on May 17, 2021 for residential and nonresidential new construction and for substantial remodels, meaning removal of more than half of a building's exterior walls or an addition of more than half its floor area. After the Ninth Circuit held in California Restaurant Association v. City of Berkeley that Berkeley's gas ban violated the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act, the city re-evaluated, and it now encourages all-electric new construction until a new pathway is identified. Existing homes were never required to switch.

    City of Petaluma (opens in a new tab)

  3. SolarAPP+ and battery submittals

    Under SB 379, Petaluma runs SolarAPP+, an automated plan review that can issue a rooftop solar permit in real time. It is limited to the roof of a permitted main dwelling, with no ballasted racking, a contractor registered with SolarAPP+, and a parcel outside the city's flood zones. A panel modification in the same job is flagged on the city portal. Batteries added to a solar system follow the city's storage checklist, written for single-phase 120/240-volt panels with a bus bar rated 225 amps or less.

    City of Petaluma Building Division (opens in a new tab)

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

The work

Jobs that bring a C-10 contractor to a Petaluma house

  • A Level 2 charger in the garage

    Petaluma issues an EV charger permit once its checklist is complete. The checklist asks for the charger's maker and nameplate rating, the size of the main service and of any panel feeding the charger, and the load already on that panel, given as connected, calculated or utility demand load. For a single-family house it carries a calculator: up to 48,000 watts of calculated load is served by 100 amps, and higher totals step through 125, 150, 200 and 225 amps. The manufacturer's installation literature goes in with the application.

  • Standby power for PG&E shutoffs

    The city warns that a Public Safety Power Shutoff can reach Petaluma even when local fire danger is low, because the grid is connected. Its generator handout asks for a site plan showing the unit's distance from every property line and a fire inspection wherever fuel is stored. The transfer switch has to be listed for emergency use and rated at or above the generator's output, a permanent plaque at the service has to name the generator and its location, and the electrician brings a torque wrench to the final.

  • Circuits for induction cooking and electric water heating

    Sonoma Clean Power offers its customers rebates on cooking, heating and cooling, and water heating upgrades, and lends induction cooktops from its customer center in Santa Rosa so a household can try one first. Each switch adds load, and the city's own load calculator shows how much: 5,000 watts for an electric cooktop, 4,000 for a storage water heater and 15,000 for an electric tankless unit. A new 240-volt circuit is permit work for a C-10 contractor.

  • A panel upgrade that has to clear the gas meter

    Without an exception, a new panel and meter have to meet PG&E's current gas-meter setback requirements, which can mean relocating the electric meter. Petaluma's Building Division issues panel upgrades over the counter, and it has a separate path, set out below, for a panel that has genuinely failed. A panel that is old but still working goes through the ordinary upgrade under PG&E's service rules.

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

Two eras of houses, two sets of panel questions

About a tenth of Petaluma's homes predate 1940, the oldest of them around downtown and in the historic districts. Most of the rest came after 1960: in 1970 and 1971 alone builders won approval for 2,000 housing permits, and in 1972 the city answered with the Petaluma Plan, which held larger projects to 500 units a year. The 2023-2031 Housing Element counts roughly two-thirds of the housing at 30 years or older, the age at which it expects rehabilitation needs to show. In those houses the electrical question is whether a panel sized for an earlier set of appliances can take a car charger, a heat pump or an induction range on top.

Timing

Inspections run Monday through Thursday

Petaluma's building inspectors work Monday through Thursday, and City Hall is closed Fridays. An inspection requested before 2 p.m. is scheduled for the next inspection day, so a request made by 2 p.m. Thursday lands on Monday. Inspections then run in numbered order from 7 a.m., and the city posts a daily schedule with an estimated two-hour window for each stop. On a panel swap, plan the work, the final inspection and the meter release around that four-day week.

Before you hire

Before you sign with a Petaluma electrician

  • If the panel has failed, ask whether it qualifies for PG&E's setback exception and who will write the statement of unsafe conditions.
  • For an EV charger, ask which load figure the city checklist will show: connected, calculated or utility demand load.
  • For a generator, ask where it will sit relative to the property lines and whether its fuel storage brings a fire inspection.
  • For solar, ask whether the parcel is outside the city's flood zones and whether the company is registered with SolarAPP+.
  • Look up the C-10 Electrical license number at cslb.ca.gov and match the name to the contract.

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

More questions

Still deciding?

Will a 100-amp panel carry a Level 2 charger?

The city's EV charger checklist gives a way to estimate it. Its calculator adds the house's loads, 3 watts per square foot for lighting and outlets plus each major appliance and the charger's own rating; a total up to 48,000 watts calls for at least a 100-amp service, and more needs a larger one. The method is voluntary, and an electrician's load calculation is the more precise answer.

Who provides our electricity in Petaluma, PG&E or Sonoma Clean Power?

Both. Petaluma is one of the cities whose elected officials govern Sonoma Clean Power, which buys and builds the power supply, while PG&E maintains the poles and wires and bills for delivery. A service upgrade or meter change therefore goes through PG&E, and appliance rebates and the induction lending program come from Sonoma Clean Power.

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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