Power from SCE
Electrician in Long Beach: some permits with no plan review
Long Beach gets its electricity from Southern California Edison and runs permits through Development Services. The median home dates to 1959, and the city issues some panel and EV charger permits online with no plan review.
Permit office
City of Long Beach Development Services (Community Development Department), Building and Safety Bureau, Permit Center
562-570-7648 (562.570.PMIT) · Permit page · Online portal
Permit fees in Long Beach
City of Long Beach Development Services (Community Development Department), Building and Safety Bureau, Permit Center
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Electrical permit minimum fee Electrical Permit & Plan Review Fees, fee changes effective 10/01/2026 | $104 per permit |
| Service, 600 volts or less, up to and including 200 amp | $24 per service |
| Panels (subpanels) | $18 per panel |
| Special outlet on an individual circuit, 15 to 30 amp (an EV circuit up to 50A uses the 31 to 50 amp line at $8) | $7 per outlet |
| Express electrical permit for EVCS (total, including surcharges and filing fees) | $193.32 |
| Electrical plan review minimum | 100% of the permit fee, not less than $216 |
Taken from the city's fee page. Fees change, and other charges such as plan check can apply. Confirm at the permit counter. Compare permit fees across cities.
Turnaround. Express EV permits can be issued the same day of the Permit Center appointment. Online instant issuance (no plan review) is available outside business hours for qualifying jobs. Permit Center hours were listed as 8:00 or 9:00 am to 4:00 pm with a noon to 1 pm closure.
EV charger permits. Long Beach adopted EV ordinances that follow Government Code (AB 1236). One or two EVSE on an existing one- or two-family home, multi-family or non-residential site can use an Express Permit by completing an express checklist (FORM-019, FORM-037 or FORM-038). If every answer is yes the permit can be issued on the same day at the Permit Center. One- and two-family jobs with no more than 2 EVSE can also be applied for and paid online, with automatic issuance. Anything else goes to submitted plan review.
Inspections. Contractors with a city PIN can apply and pay for water heater, reroof, electrical panel changeout and EVCS permits online and receive the permit by email. Inspections are scheduled through the customer portal.
No city-run rebate is listed for Long Beach. See the rebate finder for programs from SCE and the state.
$2,500 to $4,500
A regional range from the sources on the cost page. Your electrician gives the actual quote after a look.
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What the housing numbers say
Long Beach is old housing in dense buildings: a third of homes predate 1950, half predate 1960 and two thirds predate 1970, with a 1959 median. Only 6 percent went up after 2000. Fewer than half of homes are single-family and only about 4 in 10 are owner-occupied, so many jobs here are in buildings with several units or a landlord involved.
That age matters when you add load. A home wired for a few lights and a range can struggle once you add an EV charger and a heat pump. A load calculation shows whether the existing service has room. If it does not, read about a 200-amp panel upgrade and the typical SoCal cost.
Permits in Long Beach
Permits come from the Permit Center in the Building and Safety Bureau, and the city’s fee schedule changed on October 1, 2026. The unusual part is speed. A contractor with a city PIN can apply for a panel changeout or EV charger permit online and have it issued with no plan review, even after hours. For a one- or two-family home with no more than two chargers, the city also has an express path that follows California’s EV charger permit law. Everything else goes through submitted plan review, and the city does not list how many days that takes. The portal also books inspections. The full process is in the permit and inspection guide.
Who handles your power
Southern California Edison supplies the power and sets the meter. The meter gets set only after the city tells SCE that the work passed inspection. Expect weeks from application to a live meter, because SCE’s step and the city’s are sequential. See how utility coordination works.
Long Beach runs a city-owned gas utility, which confuses people about who sends the electric bill. It does not. For EV owners, SCE offers a time-of-use plan, and the time-of-use rate guide explains how to pick one.
Outages come from underground, not fire
Wildfire shutoffs are not the local story. The outages that made news came from underground equipment in the older downtown grid. If outages are a worry, a home battery or generator interlock is a choice, not a requirement.
Most of the city is in climate zone 6. ZIPs 90805, 90807 and 90808 in the north and east are in zone 8 and run hotter in summer, which pushes air conditioning load up.
The housing, in numbers
U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey; QuickFacts for Long Beach. Climate zone 6 in most ZIPs, 8 in the rest (by ZIP).
What SCE handles on a panel or charger job
SCE sets and reconnects the meter. Its published targets cover only SCE steps, and city review time is extra. How the steps fit together.
SCE provides electricity in Long Beach as a bundled utility (default 35 percent renewable per a city-focused news report, with opt-in higher tiers). The city council voted 5-4 against sending a letter of interest in joining Clean Power Alliance. City staff memos through 2023 recommended against forming a community choice program, so Long Beach has no CCA. Long Beach separately runs a city-owned natural gas utility (Long Beach Energy Resources), which is why gas is municipal here but electricity is SCE. Signal Hill is surrounded by Long Beach but is a separate city.
Backup power for shutoff days
What the record shows on outages in Long Beach
Shutoff record: None on record
The notable events are underground equipment failures in the older downtown grid: a December 2019 outage of thousands of SCE customers was blamed on failed underground equipment (Long Beach Post).
Worth knowing in Long Beach
- Long Beach has an Express Permit path for residential EV chargers: one or two EVSE on an existing 1- or 2-family home qualify if every answer on a city checklist (FORM-019) is yes. The total electrical permit including surcharges was listed at $193.32, covering up to three installations such as two chargers and a panel upgrade, plus all electrical inspections. Source
- Long Beach is split between CEC climate zones 6 and 8 by ZIP, with the north and east ZIPs 90805, 90807 and 90808 in zone 8. Source
Jobs Long Beach homeowners look up
Commercial electrical work in Long Beach
Nearby cities
Questions about electrical work in Long Beach
Can a Long Beach electrician pull a panel permit online with no plan review?
Yes, for qualifying jobs. Long Beach lets licensed California contractors who hold a city PIN apply and pay online for panel changeouts and EV charger permits. The permit arrives by email, and issuance can happen outside business hours. Jobs that do not qualify go to submitted plan review, and the city does not post those review times.
How is an electrical permit priced in Long Beach?
The fee schedule effective October 1, 2026 sets a $104 minimum per permit, then adds $24 for a service up to 200 amps and $18 per subpanel. Plan review, where needed, is the permit fee but not less than $216. City surcharges apply on top, so ask the Permit Center at 562-570-7648 for the total on your job.
Does Long Beach have Clean Power Alliance or another community choice program?
No. The city council voted 5-4 against sending a letter of interest in joining Clean Power Alliance, and staff memos through 2023 advised against forming a program. Power is bundled SCE service. Check your bill for the provider name, since a program could be added later and move customers by default.
Why did my downtown Long Beach power go out?
Old underground equipment is the best-documented cause. A vault explosion near 10th Street and Pine Avenue on July 30, 2015 cut power to about 30,000 SCE customers, two weeks after a similar blast. Wildfire shutoffs are not the usual cause here. Ask SCE for the cause of any single outage.
Does a Long Beach house built in the 1950s need a new electrical service?
Not automatically. The median Long Beach home dates to 1959, and age alone does not decide it. Adding a charger, heat pump or induction range does. An electrician runs a load calculation on the existing service, then recommends a larger panel only if the numbers do not fit.
Send a photo, get a range.
Share your ZIP and a photo of your panel. Your request goes to a licensed partner electrician, who contacts you.
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