What we do

Whole-House Generator Installation in Austin

We publish what the rules actually say about electrical work across the Austin metro — sourced, dated, and specific to your permit office and your utility. The work itself is carried out by electricians licensed by the state.

A standby generator sits outside on a pad, runs on natural gas or propane, and starts automatically when the power goes out. The electrical half of the job is not the generator — it is the transfer switch between the generator, the utility supply and your panel.

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Why this job is different in Austin

Central Texas gives people two very different reasons to want backup power, and they are not the same problem.

The February 2021 event was a generation and grid failure across the state. The February 2023 event in Austin was an ice storm: ice loading on limbs, lines and poles, taking down distribution circuits locally. One is a supply problem; the other is a wires problem that keeps re-breaking the same circuits while crews are restoring them. A standby generator answers both, but the expected duration is different, and duration is what decides fuel and sizing.

This page deliberately publishes no outage statistics. The figures for both events are recorded in the utility's own after-action reporting and they will appear here with a citation once that reporting has been read in full — not paraphrased from a news summary.

The part that is not optional: the transfer switch is what keeps your generator's output off the utility's lines. Back-feeding a de-energised line endangers the crew working on it. That is the reason this job is inspected rather than a matter of taste.

How to tell you need it

Worth the money if you have well water, medical equipment that needs power, a home office you cannot lose, or you have already sat through a multi-day outage and decided once was enough.

Probably not worth it if what you actually want is to keep a fridge and a few outlets alive for a few hours — that is a portable generator with an interlock or an inlet, or a battery, and it is a much smaller job. Ask for both options priced before assuming you need the permanent one.

What it costs

Sizing drives everything: whole house, or a selected set of circuits. Fuel supply is the other variable — a gas line that has to be extended or upsized can be a bigger line item than the electrical work.

We publish no figures here. The numbers circulating for this market come from pages that cite nothing and carry no date, and repeating them while making sourcing our whole point would be self-defeating. Ask for a written scope instead of a headline price, and ask what changes it.

Permits and inspection for this work

Expect this job to involve more than one permit: the electrical work and the fuel supply are usually separate trades and separate approvals, and the pad and clearances are their own question. The transfer switch ties into the service equipment, so on the electrical side this is not homestead-permit territory.

Whoever does this work should hold a TECL electrical contractor licence. State rules require that number on their advertising, their vehicles and their written proposals — ask for it and check it against the state's own licence search.

Gas supply, generator, automatic transfer switch, panel. The transfer switch is the safety-critical component — it isolates your generator from the utility supply.

Worth reading before you call

Where we cover

Austinone utility
Georgetownpage in progress
Round Rockone utility
Cedar Park2 possible utilities
Pflugervillepage in progress
Leanderone utility
Lakeway2 possible utilities
Dripping Springsone utility
Kyle & Budapage in progress
San Marcos3 possible utilities

Common questions

How is this different from a portable generator?

A portable unit powers what you plug into it, or feeds selected circuits through an inlet and interlock. A standby unit is wired in permanently and switches over on its own.

Can I connect a generator to a wall outlet?

No. Back-feeding through an outlet puts voltage on the utility's lines and on your own wiring in an uncontrolled way. The transfer switch exists to prevent exactly that.

Does it need its own permit?

The electrical work is permitted and inspected, and the fuel side generally is too. Confirm both with the office that serves your address.

Talk to an electrician about this job

Tell us which city you are in and what you need done, and we will connect you with a licensed contractor who works your area.