Portland Metro Electric
Generator Installation in Portland, OR
Whole-house standby generators that start themselves when the power fails, installed and permitted by licensed electricians.
Oregon
Licensed
Washington
Licensed
CCB#
249412
Customer Testimonials
Home Backup Generators for Portland Power Outages
Portland loses power to winter windstorms, ice, and saturated trees on lines, and when it happens the furnace, the fridge, the well pump, the medical equipment, and the home office all stop at once. If you’ve spent an outage running extension cords from a portable generator in the rain, or watching a freezer full of food ride the clock, you already know why standby generators exist.
A standby generator is a permanently installed unit beside your home that senses an outage and starts itself: power drops, the generator takes over in seconds, and switches back automatically when the utility returns, whether you’re home or not. Portland Metro Electric sizes, installs, and wires standby generators across the metro, and tells you the full price, generator, wiring, permits, before any work starts.
What a Generator Installation Costs in Portland
A whole-house standby installation typically costs [$1.500-$4,000+]. Every estimate is written and itemized (materials, labor, and permits). Most EV charger installations can be quoted with a min-max range over the phone; complex ones get an in-person inspection. Financing available.
Factors Affecting Electric Vehicle Charger Installations
Generator capacity:
Measured in kilowatts (kW), the unit of generating power. Covering essentials costs less than covering the whole house; as a sizing reference, a 2,000 sq ft home running everything typically needs roughly 20 to 24 kW.
The transfer switch:
The device that safely moves your home between utility and generator power (and keeps your generator from feeding the grid, which is both dangerous and illegal). Automatic transfer switches cost more than manual ones and are what make “hands-free” real.
Fuel connection:
Standby units typically run on natural gas or propane, and the distance to your gas line or tank affects the plumbing scope.
Placement and code clearances:
Generators must sit specified distances from windows, doors, and vents, which shapes pad location and wiring runs.
Two Ways to Back Up a House, Honestly Compared
Standby Generators
A standby generator is the permanent solution: professionally installed on a pad beside your home, connected to natural gas or propane so it never needs refueling, and paired with an automatic transfer switch so it starts and transfers your home's load by itself within seconds of an outage, then returns and shuts down when utility power is back. Higher cost, zero effort during the outage, and coverage for as much of your home as you choose to size it for. For households with medical equipment, well pumps, home offices, or frequent outages, this is the one that actually solves the problem.
Portable Generators
A portable generator is the wheeled unit you start manually, fuel with gasoline, and connect when an outage hits. It's the affordable option and fine for powering a few essentials for a few hours. Its limits are real: someone has to be home to set it up, it needs refueling through the outage, it can't safely power your whole panel without a properly installed transfer connection, and it must run outdoors well away from the house because of carbon monoxide. If you go this route, the one piece of professional work we strongly recommend is a transfer switch or interlock, the hardware that lets a portable feed selected circuits safely instead of through a dangerous backfed cord.
Our Standby Generator Installation Process, Start to Finish
We evaluate your home's electrical load, which means adding up what you want powered during an outage, whole house or essentials only, so the generator is sized to your real needs rather than a guess. From that assessment we present brand and model options matched to your load and budget, with the kW rating and coverage of each spelled out.
We secure required permits and prepare a placement that meets code clearances from windows, doors, and vents, coordinating gas line work where needed.
Licensed electricians mount the unit, connect the fuel source, install the transfer switch at your panel, and wire the whole system.
We simulate an outage, verify the automatic start and transfer, and walk you through operation and the maintenance schedule before we leave. If anything about your site complicates the plan, you hear about it with a price before it changes anything.
Standby Generator FAQs
Typically $1,500-$4,000+ depending on capacity, transfer switch type, fuel connection, and placement. Your free estimate itemizes the generator, electrical work, gas work, and permit separately. [Restore real figures only after client confirms.]
To run everything, roughly 20 to 24 kW. To run essentials only (heat, refrigeration, lighting, a few circuits), meaningfully less. The load assessment gives you the exact number rather than a square-footage guess.
Standby installation involves panel wiring, a transfer switch, and gas plumbing, all code-governed and permit-required. This is professional-only work, and we’ll say so plainly.
Check the oil and run the unit about every three months (most units self-exercise automatically) and have it professionally serviced once a year.
In areas with regular outages, yes, it’s a feature buyers recognize and pay for.
Whichever your property supports. Natural gas never runs out; propane works anywhere with a tank. We’ll confirm your option during the assessment.
For any other questions or to schedule an upgrade consultation, contact Portland Metro Electric. We’re here to ensure your electrical system is safe, efficient, and tailored to your needs.
The Questions People Weigh Before Committing
That’s a real question and the answer is personal: if an outage for you means inconvenience, maybe not. If it means a flooded basement (sump pump), a cold house with a newborn, spoiled insulin, or lost work days, the math changes. We’ll size a smaller essentials-only system if that’s the right fit, rather than upselling the whole-house unit.
Standby units run brief automatic self-tests on a schedule, and we review the maintenance rhythm with you: check oil and exercise the unit quarterly, professional service annually.
In outage-prone areas, an installed standby generator is a feature buyers understand immediately, and it appraises as such.
Never Sit Through Another Outage, Priced Before We Start
Call or send the form. An electrician will ask what you need powered when the grid fails, tell you what size system that means, and give you a price range. Written remote estimates within 24 hours where feasible; complex sites get an in-person assessment. Free, no obligation, financing available.
Monday – Friday: 8:00am – 5:00pm
Saturday – Sunday By appointment only
24/7 Emergency Services avalible
Portland-metro SERVICE AREA
Serving Portland and the greater metro: Happy Valley, Milwaukie, Clackamas, Gladstone, West Linn, Oregon City, Lake Oswego, Wilsonville, Tigard, Tualatin, Gresham, Damascus, Sandy, and surrounding areas, plus Vancouver, WA and Southwest Washington.
OFFICE
Head Office
Portland Metro Electric
8415 SE Hinkley Ave, Happy Valley, OR 97086
Ready to Restore Power or Upgrade Your Electrical?
Call us now, or fill out our contact form and one of our electrical experts will get in tough with you shorty. We will listen to your project needs or concerns and help guide you in the right direction. If the project is can be remotely estimated we can send you a personalized estimate within the next 24 hours.