Power Distribution — Service, Switchgear, and the Capacity Path
Every building eventually asks its electrical service for more than the service was built to give: a bigger kitchen, a production line, a floor of EV chargers, a tenant the original design never imagined. The work that answers is unglamorous and decisive — load calculations, utility coordination, switchgear, feeders, and one-lines that agree with each other. This page is the distribution version of that answer: the scope, the sequence, and the questions that separate a service upgrade from an expensive surprise.
What the Scope Actually Includes
- Service entrance sizing from NEC Article 220 load calculations — connected load, demand factors, and the growth margin stated in the calc, not guessed at the panel
- Utility coordination from the first call: service point, transformer sizing, metering, and the utility's own lead times carried in the project schedule
- Switchboard, switchgear, and panelboard selection and layout — working clearances, fault-current ratings, and room for the next expansion
- Feeders, branch circuits, panel schedules, and one-line diagrams that are one consistent design — the set the electrician prices and the inspector checks against itself
- Service upgrades and capacity additions phased around an occupied building — cutover planning, temporary power, and the outage windows negotiated before anyone touches the gear
How to Buy It Well
Ask a distribution firm for the load calculation in writing: what demand factors were applied, what growth margin is in the service, and what the utility's transformer lead time is today. Service work fails on arithmetic and lead time, not drafting — a firm that cannot show the calc has not run it.
Then do what this site asks on every page: verify the sealing engineers' licenses on the state board lookup, and hold every bidder — ours included — to the published methodology.
The Evaluated Firms for This Sector
The publisher's flagship carries this sector as a core line; the challenger and agile brands carry it for smaller scopes. All three are disclosed commercial options: compare the evaluated firms.
Who Publishes This Directory
Published by Apex Grid Engineering PLLC. The firms evaluated and listed on this site today are the publisher's own family of brands — this is an affiliated directory, not a neutral referee. The methodology below is the standard any engineering firm can be measured against, and it is the standard we hold our own firms to in public. Presentation order on this site is the publisher's choice and an experiment in what helps buyers decide — it is not an objective quality verdict, and no firm pays for placement. Coverage claims are limited to licensure the operator's bench actually holds, stated per state. No reviews, ratings, or project claims are published for any firm unless they can be documented — you will find none invented here.
Operated by Apex Grid Engineering PLLC. Founder & CEO: Jeremy “Chico” Mills — serial entrepreneur and USAF veteran. Jeremy is the founder and chief executive; he is not a licensed professional engineer, and no page on this site implies otherwise. The engineering behind the listed firms is performed and sealed by their licensed PE benches.