Meter stacks and building wide service upgrades for multi unit property
Apartment buildings, duplexes and fourplexes across Los Angeles still run on meter stacks and services installed decades ago. Replacing them is the work most electricians turn down, because it means coordinating a building permit, utility approved equipment, a scheduled disconnect and tenants who need their power back the same day. That coordination is what Morff Electric was built around.
What the work covers
Multi unit electrical work usually comes as a package rather than one item:
- Replacing an original meter stack with modern, utility approved metering equipment
- Splitting a single meter into individual meters so each unit pays its own bill
- Adding a house meter for common area lighting, laundry and gates
- Installing new subpanels inside each unit
- Upsizing the building service so it can carry added units, AC and EV charging
- Bringing added or converted units into a legal, permitted meter arrangement
Equipment the utility will accept
Meter equipment has to meet the serving utility's requirements, which in Southern California follow the EUSERC standards that LADWP, Southern California Edison and the municipal utilities reference. We spec equipment the utility will set meters on, and we confirm the meter location and working clearances before anything is ordered. That avoids the most expensive mistake on these jobs: equipment that arrives, gets installed and is then rejected.
Keeping tenants powered
On an occupied building the schedule is planned around the people living there. We notify the property manager of the outage window, stage the work so the building is down for as short a time as possible, and coordinate the utility disconnect and reconnect with the inspection so power comes back the same day whenever the scope allows it.
How a meter stack job runs
- Site walk: unit count, existing service, meter location, and what the owner wants each unit to carry.
- Load calculation for the building and a written estimate.
- Permit and plan check with the building department; service request with the utility.
- Equipment ordered to the utility's requirements.
- Scheduled outage, installation, inspection and utility reconnect.
- Finaled permit and documentation for the owner, lender or insurer.
Common questions
In most cases yes. It means a meter panel with two meter positions, separate feeders to each unit and a permit, plus the utility setting a second meter and opening a second account. Whether it makes sense depends on the existing service and how the units are wired today, which we check on the site walk.
No. The building loses power during the changeover, and we plan the job so that window is as short as the scope allows and is scheduled in advance with the property manager.
Yes, constantly. Roughly half of our work is for property managers and insurance related jobs. We give one point of contact, written scope and schedules, and permit documentation for the owner's files.
Meter stacks and multi unit service upgrades near you
Tell us what is going on. We will tell you what it takes.
No call center, no upsell script. We read every request that comes in and get back to you the same business day.
- (323) 945-3608Call or text. Emergencies answered any time
- morff.electric@gmail.comSend plans, photos or a scope
- 10316 Sepulveda Blvd #441, Mission Hills, CA 91345Get directions on Google Maps