Federal Pacific panel replacement in Boise

The letter names Federal Pacific on a North End bungalow that still has the original 100-amp box. Planning and Development Services still wants the electrical permit. Idaho Power still owns the seal.

The city inspector will not pull an Idaho Power meter. Idaho Power will not print the Capitol Boulevard electrical permit. Those two systems do not match. A helper with a van cannot stand in for either one.

What the utilities actually wrote

Treasure Valley bills are Idaho Power. Confirm the logo on the bill before anyone prices the job.

Start with the Customer Service Requirements. Idaho Power will disconnect the existing service and then reconnect it after the work is completed.

That no-cost path has four conditions. Idaho Power needs at least 24 hours’ notice. Both trips have to land on a weekday between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. The service has to be ready when they arrive. The service has to be ready to be reconnected with a passed electrical inspection by the Authority Having Jurisdiction.

There might be a charge if the work is outside those hours. There might be a charge if Idaho Power has to make an extra trip because the service is not ready.

A meter seal is a device installed on a meter base by Idaho Power. When that seal is broken, it indicates that the meter base has been opened. That is not a homeowner meter-pull path.

Idaho Power does not publish a guaranteed power-off hour count. Construction questions go to 208-388-2323.

Permits in Boise and in the Treasure Valley

Inside Boise, start at Planning and Development Services, second floor of City Hall, 150 N. Capitol Blvd. Building is 208-608-7070. Files go through the Permitting and Licensing System.

Who pulls the permit matters. City Code 9-5-19 wants a permit before a regulated electrical system is installed, altered, repaired, or replaced. The April 2026 Homeowner Electrical Permit Guide is narrower than a lot of quotes imply. That homeowner permit is only for the owner of record doing basic electrical work without physical assistance from professionals or others. Owning the home does not mean you should pull the permit and then hire someone under your name.

Meridian, Eagle, Star, Garden City, Nampa, and Caldwell file at their own counters. A quote that only says “we handle the permit” should name the city on the address.

Price, without inventing one

One Treasure Valley contractor page publishes a 200-amp band and does not hide the spread.

Magic Electric’s Boise panel page prints a standard 200-amp service upgrade starting around $1,300 on the low end for the simplest replacements. The same paragraph says the job reaches $5,000 or more when it includes service relocation or extensive rewiring. Those two lines do not match. We will not average them. We are not inventing an Ada midpoint from either line.

Idaho Electrical Board lookup is public. Ask for the ELE-C number and check it before you sign. One shop advertises this work on their own site and prints a license number. Magic Electric’s panel page names Federal Pacific Electric Stab-Lok and Zinsco. The shop’s own electrical-safety-inspection page prints Idaho Electrical Contractor License #ELE-C-33843. They write daily work across Boise. They are listed for the panel letter, not as an Ada directory.

Directory-only shops are omitted. A page that names these brands and does not print an Idaho electrical contractor number is not a listing. The listed shop is not affiliated with Panel Letter.

What to hand the carrier

The useful packet is the closed City of Boise or other Treasure Valley electrical permit, the passed electrical inspection, an invoice with the license number that was on the permit, and photos if the letter asks. If your electrician produces a load calculation or panel schedule, send that too. We did not find a carrier page that publishes a single statewide sticker form. Ask the agent what they will actually open.