PG&E has told customers that work to "connect new customers or upgrade their service" could be delayed as the utility defers about $2 billion of its planned 2027 investment. It expects to say in mid-December which projects are affected. On October 23, 2026, the Town of Los Gatos told residents the delays could reach "individual residential projects, such as home electrical upgrades that require changes to a property's electrical service equipment," and called the situation emerging.
For a Los Gatos homeowner planning a heat pump, an EV charger, an ADU or a kitchen remodel, the deciding question is whether the project needs more power delivered from the street. Most projects can be planned so they don't, and the Town's current building rules don't require them to.
What PG&E is pulling back, and why
In a September 2, 2026 release, PG&E said it plans to defer about $2 billion of 2027 investment, which leaves about $11.4 billion planned for California. It framed the move as a way to cut debt and financing costs while keeping its safety and compliance spending.
The company's October 14 explanation to customers ties the decision to California's wildfire liability laws and to credit ratings below investment grade. PG&E says those have added more than $4 billion in interest expense since 2017. The same page lists four kinds of work that could slip: connecting clean-energy resources, expanding the system to meet demand, supporting city and county public works, and connecting new customers or upgrading their service. PG&E says it began notifying potentially affected customers in October.
The last item on that list is the one that reaches a Los Gatos driveway. To see who it touches, you need to know what PG&E counts as a service change.
The meter is where your project meets the deferral
PG&E's residential project resources list these service changes:
- Adding a meter
- Increasing load
- Replacing a panel like-for-like or upgrading it
- Moving or relocating the meter or panel
- Rerouting or moving the service connection
Moving a meter panel requires an application even when the load stays the same. PG&E's Building & Renovation page lists adding a meter for an ADU among its project examples. Even a simple disconnect and reconnect needs a formal application, according to PG&E's application resources, when the home has a service of 400 amps or more.
PG&E's panel upgrade roadmap says any added load needs a load evaluation and an application through the Your Projects portal. PG&E then checks the nearby lines and transformers, and the homeowner is responsible for the home's wiring and permits. The roadmap estimates the load assessment at up to 30 days. It says reconnection typically happens within a day once utility work and city inspection are done.
So a new panel and a new service both go through PG&E, but state rules time them very differently. A panel swap on the existing service is short utility work. A bigger service can pull in transformers, lines and circuits upstream, and that is where long timelines sit.
| Type of utility work | Timeline or cost | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Main panel upgrade, no upstream capacity work | Average 30, maximum 45 business days | CPUC D.24-09-020 |
| New service under Rule 15/16, work within utility control | Average 182 calendar days; maximum 306 combined | CPUC fact sheet, Sept 2024 |
| Upstream work: new or upgraded circuit | Maximum 684 calendar days | CPUC workshop, June 2025 |
| Upstream work: substation upgrade | Maximum 1,021 calendar days | CPUC workshop, June 2025 |
| Service upgrade, PG&E fees and time | $3,000 to $20,000+; 6 to 12+ months | SVCE pricing, effective February 2026 |
These targets come from the California Public Utilities Commission's energization decision, D.24-09-020. The decision has a catch. Once a customer is told their project triggers an upstream upgrade, the target clock stops. It restarts only when the upstream work is finished. The work PG&E now says it may defer, such as expanding the system to meet demand, is the same kind of upstream work that pauses the clock.
What Los Gatos's own codes actually ask for
The Town no longer requires all-electric construction. On December 17, 2024, the Town Council unanimously approved Ordinance 2365, which repealed the residential and nonresidential all-electric requirements in the Town Code.
The current rules came from a Council vote on November 4, 2025, alongside the state building code that took effect January 1, 2026. The Mercury News reported that the Council added two electrification reach codes. One requires old air conditioners to be replaced with heat pumps. The other requires outlet and panel capacity for electric appliances whenever electrical work happens within three feet of a gas appliance.
Panel and circuit costs took up much of that meeting. According to the same Mercury News report, representatives from Silicon Valley Clean Energy and consultants from TRC Energy told the Council that a heat pump can run on the same electrical supply as the air conditioner it replaces, and that neither reach code requires a service panel upgrade.
So the local rules that most often apply to an ordinary Los Gatos remodel stop before the meter. A homeowner who follows them is not forced into the category PG&E has said could slow down.
Keeping a project below the line
Silicon Valley Clean Energy is the community electricity provider for Los Gatos. Its panel best practices guide says more than 90% of homes can fully electrify on 100 amps without a larger panel or a utility service upgrade. The guide stays under that line mostly through equipment choices:
- Panel optimization, which means combining lightly loaded circuits and using tandem or slimline breakers to free up slots
- Variable-speed heat-pump HVAC with 120-volt air handlers
- Heat-pump water heaters rated 120V/15A or 240V/15A
- A range rated at 40 amps instead of a default 50-amp model
- EV charging sized to need, either 120-volt Level 1 or a 20-amp Level 2 circuit
- Circuit-sharing devices that pause an EV charger while other large loads are running
SVCE's full-service pricing page also names a smart panel as a possible lower-cost alternative to a service upgrade. When an upgrade is unavoidable, the page lists an $800 program fee for coordinating with PG&E and says PG&E's own fees are extra.
Each item on that list moves a project from the column with month-long timelines toward the column measured in business days. Before PG&E's announcement, that was mostly a cost decision. Now it also decides whether a project's schedule depends on PG&E's mid-December list.
How SVCE's rebates line up with the same line
The rebate rules point the same way. Under SVCE's current home rebate terms, the standard and income-qualified amounts are:
- Heat-pump water heater replacing gas: $2,500 standard, $3,500 income-qualified
- Heat-pump HVAC replacing a gas furnace: $2,000 standard, $3,000 income-qualified
- Prewiring, circuit splitters or pausers: $500 per circuit or device up to $2,000, or $750 each up to $3,000 for income-qualified customers
- In-home electrical service upgrade add-on: $1,000 standard, $2,000 income-qualified, subject to program pairing and panel-capacity rules
SVCE's pricing page adds that projects that choose a service upgrade voluntarily are not eligible for its Electrical Infrastructure rebate. The 2026 seasonal bonus windows ran May 1 to June 30 and September 1 to October 31, so neither is open for a reservation made this month.
Where buyers feel it
For someone buying in Los Gatos this winter, a home's existing electrical service now affects what they can do after closing, and when. Two common plans fall squarely into PG&E's named categories. An ADU on its own meter is a meter addition, and a larger service is a service upgrade. A heat pump that replaces an aging air conditioner, or an EV charger sized under SVCE's guidance, often stays in the shorter panel-work column.
That gap between projects is the information worth having before an offer. PG&E's mid-December update will show how far the deferral reaches. Until then, the best guide is whether a project changes the service at all.
FAQ
How would I know if my project is already affected?
PG&E says it began sending letters in October to customers whose projects could be delayed. Anyone who received one can call PG&E's project support office at 1-888-576-6250, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Does the Los Gatos heat pump rule mean I'll need a bigger service?
According to the consultants and SVCE representatives quoted in the Mercury News coverage of the November 2025 vote, no. A heat pump can use the same supply as the air conditioner it replaces, and neither reach code requires a service panel upgrade.
Do the state energization targets guarantee a date?
The targets cover steps PG&E controls. When a project triggers upstream capacity work, the CPUC decision stops the clock until that work is finished.
This post covers general information on utility rules, local codes and rebate terms. It is not legal, tax or financial advice, so please confirm your own project with your electrician, PG&E and SVCE.
If you're weighing a Los Gatos home and want to know how its electrical service fits your plans for an ADU, a charger or a heat pump, the Brian Flack Team can help you factor that into your offer before mid-December. If you're thinking of selling, start with an instant home valuation.
