Federal Pacific panel replacement in Dallas–Fort Worth

Dallas–Fort Worth still has a lot of 1960s–80s load centers in Oak Cliff, East Dallas, Arlington, Fort Worth’s older east side, and the inner-ring suburbs that grew when Federal Pacific and Zinsco were ordinary hardware. The letter usually names the brand. The work is governed by whichever city sits on the parcel and, for most of the metro, by Oncor Electric Delivery.

Those two systems do not match. Oncor’s published Electric Service Guidelines Book lets a licensed electrician, after calling 1.800.518.2374 and leaving the job details, cut a seal and pull a self-contained meter so they can work the load side. Dallas, on the other hand, writes electrical permits for registered electrical contractors. Fort Worth’s registration page says the same thing in city language: an electrical-contractor registration requires a valid Texas electrical contractor license. A helper with a van is not the person who can print a DallasNow electrical permit.

What Oncor actually wrote

The notice in the official guidelines book is blunt. Unauthorized meter or seal removal is a customer charge under the tariff that took effect October 15, 2013. Before anyone pulls a self-contained meter, the electrician calls 1.800.518.2374 and gives company name, a contact, the address, the work, whether an inspection is required, and the pull and replace dates. Oncor then schedules a trip to inspect and reseal. Only Oncor removes 480-volt self-contained meters and locking bars (one business day of notice for the lock). If the work slips a day, someone has to call again or the charge still lands.

That is not a promise that the whole panel swap fits in two hours. Epic’s DFW Federal Pacific page describes 5–8 hours without power on install day and a 2–4 week calendar once the permit and the Oncor ticket are in motion. Treat that as contractor field notes. Confirm the current phone path in the book Oncor hosts.

Garland is the exception Epic names in public: Garland Power & Light, not Oncor. Some northern suburbs sit on CoServ or a city utility. Read the bill before the estimate.

Permits inside Dallas, Fort Worth, and the rest of the map

Inside Dallas city limits, start at Permitting & Inspections. Their own page says permits go through DallasNow. The electrical-permit checklist PDF says commercial electrical work needs a registered electrical contractor, and that a homesteaded homeowner may do residential work only after passing the city’s homeowner exam. That is not a green light to swap a service panel yourself because the letter arrived.

Fort Worth is a different counter. Development Services will not take an electrical permit from a firm that has not registered, and registration requires a Texas electrical contractor license. Plano, Irving, Arlington, Frisco, and the smaller suburbs each have their own building department. Epic’s later DFW guide publishes municipal permit-fee observations (Fort Worth $120–$150, Plano $250–$400, Frisco $260–$410). Treat those as a contractor’s 2026 notes, then confirm on the city that actually covers the house.

Price, without inventing one

Epic Electrical is the DFW contractor that publishes clear installed bands on its own Federal Pacific pages. The 200-amp DFW article says most standard jobs are $2,750–$4,800 (materials $1,975–$2,900, labor $800–$2,000, permits $150–$300). The Fort Worth article widens a code-compliant 200A job to $2,800–$7,800. A later requirements guide prices a full 100A-to-200A upgrade — outdoor disconnect, surge, grounding, labor, permits — at $5,800–$7,500. Those are three published bands from one shop, not an average we made up.

Texas license lookup is public. Ask for the TECL and check it on TDLR before you sign. Two shops met both bars on their own sites. Epic prints TECL #33192 on the same Federal Pacific articles that publish the prices. Milestone’s Addison panel page names Federal Pacific, Zinsco, Sylvania, and ITE/Bulldog Pushmatic; TECL #21431 is printed on Milestone’s own homepage (and in the footer of other pages on that site). Milestone is HVAC, plumbing, and electrical; they are listed for the panel letter, not as a cooling directory. Cool Hand Electric writes about Federal Pacific and Zinsco but the pages we fetched did not print a TECL. TLC Electrical has a dedicated FPE/Zinsco page that does not print a license number. Directory-only shops are omitted. Neither listed shop is affiliated with Panel Letter.

What to hand the carrier

The useful packet is the closed city permit, the passed inspection (the green tag, in Dallas contractor language), an invoice with the TECL on it, and photos if the letter asks. Epic’s Fort Worth Federal Pacific page includes a site assessment and load calculation in a professional replacement and talks about circuit labels; if your electrician produces that sheet, send it. We did not find a Texas carrier page that publishes a single national “sticker” form. Ask the agent what they will actually open.