Federal Pacific panel replacement in Shreveport

The insurance letter named Federal Pacific. Permits and Inspections still files the electrical permit at 505 Travis Street. SWEPCO still owns the meter on most Caddo bills.

The city counter will not pull a SWEPCO meter. SWEPCO will not print the city electrical permit. Those two systems do not match. A helper with a van cannot close either ticket.

What SWEPCO actually wrote

Start with the 2024 Electric Service Handbook. Only personnel who are qualified and authorized by SWEPCO are permitted to remove and install meters.

In special circumstances, exceptions may be granted to qualified electrical contractors by contacting SWEPCO’s Meter Department, Service Center Supervisor, or a designated representative.

That exception is a SWEPCO grant. It is not a homeowner path.

The AEP meter guide that covers SWEPCO is just as blunt on the seal. The breaking of seals by other than authorized persons or tampering with the Company’s meters and measuring devices is prohibited.

Where the Company detects that its facilities have been tampered with so as to cause an unauthorized use of electric energy or loss of meter registration, the Company may at any time and without notice discontinue the supply of electric energy and remove its meter and other apparatus. Such tampering could result in criminal actions.

A service change or meter removal starts on SWEPCO’s Modify Home Service form, or at 888-216-3523.

Permits and Inspections issues the electrical permit. SWEPCO will not treat a cut seal as ordinary maintenance. Those two systems do not match.

Confirm the logo on the bill. Most Shreveport and Bossier City addresses are SWEPCO.

SWEPCO does not publish a guaranteed power-off hour count. Southern Air describes most Shreveport replacements as four to eight hours. That is a contractor field note.

Permits inside Shreveport and in Caddo Parish

Inside the city, start at Permits and Inspections, 505 Travis Street, Government Plaza, Suite 130. Electrical questions go to 318-673-6115. Files go through My Government Online. Walk-in applications are still accepted at Suite 130.

Who pulls the permit matters. The 2026 city guide says you may apply for your own building permit. Electrical, plumbing, and HVAC work still have to be performed by registered licensed contractors who register their own permit against that file. A Federal Pacific or Zinsco swap is electrical work. It is not a same-size breaker change. If you are the applicant on residential work valued over $7,500, Louisiana still wants the Homeowner’s Exemption from Licensure. Owning the home does not mean you should pull the permit and then hire someone under your name.

Bossier City, Greenwood, Oil City, Haughton, and Minden 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

Southern Air’s Shreveport panel page publishes one job band and does not hide the caveats. A typical upgrade from a 100-amp to a 200-amp panel is printed at $1,500 to $3,500. They say the number moves with panel size, whether the service entrance also has to change, and code corrections. We will not average them. We are not inventing a river midpoint from this band.

Louisiana license lookup is public. Ask for the LSLBC number and check it before you sign. Three shops advertise this work on their own sites and print a license number. Lightning Electric’s Shreveport panel page names Federal Pacific, Zinsco, Stab Lok, Pushmatic, and Challenger and prints License #75356. McNeer’s Shreveport panel page names Federal Pacific and Zinsco. The same shop’s Bossier City page prints Louisiana license #18765. Southern Air’s Shreveport panel page names both brands and prints HVAC & Electrical: 63157. They write daily work across Shreveport, Bossier City, Blanchard, and Greenwood. They are listed for the panel letter, not as an Ark-La-Tex directory.

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

What to hand the carrier

The useful packet is the closed city or Bossier electrical permit, the passed final 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.