Federal Pacific panel replacement in Orlando

College Park, Conway, and the older east-side streets still have Federal Pacific and Zinsco load centers that were ordinary when those houses were new. The insurance letter is usually written somewhere else. The work is governed by whichever city sits on the parcel and by whichever utility owns the meter.

Those two systems do not match. City of Orlando electrical work is an ELE permit through Permitting Services and ProjectDox. Unincorporated Orange County is Fast Track at the Division of Building Safety. OUC’s published meter rules and Duke Energy’s contractor sealing policy are different documents. A helper with a van is not the person who can print either permit.

Kissimmee and Sanford are nearby on a map and not the same packet. Kissimmee is Osceola County and, for much of the city, Kissimmee Utility Authority. Sanford is Seminole County. This page stays on Orlando and Orange County.

What OUC and Duke actually wrote

OUC’s Electric Service and Digital Meter Installation requirements are blunt: remove a meter-base seal without OUC authorization and the account gets a $100 charge. The 2026 tariff and OUC’s public rates page repeat that Cut Seal Trip Charge and give a panel upgrade as the example. That is not a DIY path. The electrician coordinates the disconnect with OUC so the seal cut is authorized.

Duke Energy Florida’s April 2026 Service Requirements Manual says a licensed electrical contractor shall notify the company before breaking and removing the meter seal, then notify the company immediately after the work so Duke can re-inspect and replace the seal. The same manual says company-owned meters are not for the customer to pull. The contractor notice is the published exception, not a homeowner exception.

Neither utility publishes a guaranteed outage window. Spectrum’s 2026 Orlando article describes a same-day or 24-hour disconnect ticket and a one-day install. Treat that as contractor language.

Winter Park Electric is a third logo. Read the bill before the estimate.

Permits inside the city and in the county

Inside Orlando city limits, start at Permitting Services (400 South Orange Avenue). Their Get-a-Permit page runs through an application, digital plans in ProjectDox, a recorded Notice of Commencement if the job is over $5,000, fees, then inspections until the permit is final. The forms page has a dedicated Electrical (ELE) Permit Application, a contractor-registration form, and an owner-builder declaration that has to be filled out in person at City Hall.

In unincorporated Orange County, the county’s own “Do I Need a Permit” page answers the panel question in one line: yes, you need an electrical permit to change out the panel or upgrade service, and a final inspection has to pass. Licensed contractors apply in the scope of their license through Fast Track. A homeowner may apply only for a primary residence after owner-builder verification.

Spectrum’s 2026 guide cites Florida Building Code (8th Edition, 2023) and Orange County Code Chapter 9 and puts typical county permit fees at $150–$300. Confirm the current fee on the counter that actually covers the house.

Price, without inventing one

Three Orlando-area contractor pages publish installed bands. Spectrum’s 2026 article says a typical 200-amp upgrade is $1,500–$3,000, with 400-amp work at $3,000–$5,500+. Palmer’s panel-replacement FAQ puts a typical interior main-panel swap at $2,000–$2,500. Happy Home’s FAQ widens replacement to $1,500–$4,000 and 100A-to-200A to $1,800–$3,000. Those are three published bands, not an average we made up.

Florida license lookup is public. Ask for the EC (certified, statewide) or ER (registered, local) number and check it on DBPR before you sign. Three shops met both bars on their own sites and matched Current/Active certified electrical records on myfloridalicense.com: Spectrum EC13008455, Florida Electrical Services EC13007069, and Palmer EC0003096. Palmer’s FPE/Zinsco copy is on the panel-replacement page; EC0003096 is also printed on their homepage with a link to the state lookup.

Happy Home writes about Federal Pacific and Zinsco and publishes prices, but the pages we fetched never print an EC or ER number — cost source only. Al-Air names Stab-Lok and Zinsco without a license number. Thomas Edison Electric’s Orlando site names FPE/Zinsco and prints EC13015487, but it is one of several cookie-cutter Florida city domains on the same license; we could not pull a clean official DBPR detail page in this review, so the shop is omitted rather than guessed. Directory-only listings are omitted. None of the listed shops is affiliated with Panel Letter.

What to hand the carrier

The useful packet is the closed city or county electrical permit, the passed inspection, an invoice with the EC number on it, and photos if the letter asks. Spectrum’s Orlando panel page talks about satisfying insurance requirements after an FPE or Zinsco swap. If your electrician produces a load calculation or a labeled panel schedule, send that too. We did not find a Florida carrier page that publishes a single national “sticker” form. Ask the agent what they will actually open.