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📍 Hudson County · 07030 · About 10 minutes from our Jersey City shop

Electrician in Hoboken, NJ

Malfettone Electric is a licensed electrician serving Hoboken, NJ — family-owned since 1977 and holding New Jersey Electrical Contractor License #17130. We work uptown and downtown brownstones, converted lofts and waterfront condo buildings, filing permits at the Hoboken Building Department and handling condo board approvals and PSE&G coordination ourselves. Free virtual consultations, typically booked within a day.

Uptown brownstonesDowntown / Washington StreetThe waterfrontSouthwest HobokenCastle Point
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NJ Contractor #17130
Fully Insured
Permits Pulled
PSE&G Coordinated
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What Hoboken Calls Us For

The three jobs we do most in Hoboken

We do the full range of residential and commercial electrical work here — see the full Hudson County service list — but these three account for most of what Hoboken homeowners and landlords call about.

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Brownstone & condo panel upgrades
200A service upgrades in converted brownstones, unit panel replacements, and building-wide service for 2–4 unit conversions.
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EV charger installation
Level 2 chargers in Hoboken garages and waterfront parking decks, with board approval and building-service verification handled.
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Lighting & code corrections
Recessed lighting through plaster ceilings, GFCI/AFCI corrections, and pre-sale fixes flagged by a buyer's inspector.
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Local Housing Stock

What Hoboken homes are actually wired like

Hoboken is a square mile of brownstones. The uptown and downtown blocks off Washington Street are almost entirely pre-war row houses, many since converted into two-, three- and four-unit buildings, which is the single biggest driver of the electrical work we do here: the original service was sized for one household and now feeds three or four. Federal Pacific Stab-Lok and Zinsco panels turn up constantly in units updated in the 1960s and 1970s. Basements and utility closets are tight, and the meter bank is often stacked in a stairwell or under the stoop. The waterfront and Southwest developments are the opposite problem — modern buildings where your unit is fine but the building's riser and main service set the ceiling on what you can add, EV chargers especially.

nearly 50 years of this exact housing stock is why we can quote Hoboken work accurately from photos instead of guessing on site. See the Hudson County overview for how the county compares town to town.

Permits & Timeline

Hoboken Building Department, 94 Washington Street

Hoboken handles electrical permits through the Building Department on Washington Street and applications are still filed on paper rather than online — expect 5–10 business days for approval, with fees of $175–$300 included in our quoted price. Hoboken's inspectors are thorough, which is genuinely good for your building; it just means your electrician needs to know what they look for. We file the application and meet the inspector.

Utility Coordination

PSE&G in Hoboken

Hoboken is PSE&G territory, with 2–4 weeks of utility lead time for a service upgrade after the permit is approved. The Hoboken-specific wrinkle is shared overhead service drops: many row houses share a drop with the neighbouring property, and if your upgrade requires PSE&G to run a separate one, that adds coordination time. We identify it during the assessment so it lands in the written estimate, not mid-job.

Go Deeper

More Hoboken electrical detail

⚡ Panel upgrade cost in Hoboken🧠 SPAN smart panels in Hoboken📍 Hoboken service area💵 Full pricing guide🧮 Free load calculator
Common Questions

Electrician FAQs — Hoboken, NJ

How much does an electrician cost in Hoboken?
Small defined jobs run about $150–$400, and a diagnostic service call is $150–$250, credited toward the repair. A 200A service upgrade in a brownstone or row house is $2,800–$5,200 with the Hoboken permit included; a single condo unit panel upgrade is $1,800–$3,500; a whole-building service upgrade for a 2–3 unit conversion runs $6,000–$12,000 and splits across the units. Hoboken sits toward the higher end of Hudson County because access is tight and shared service drops are common.
How long does a Hoboken electrical permit take?
Hoboken is still a paper filing at the Building Department on Washington Street, so approval usually takes 5–10 business days — slower than Jersey City's 3–5 day online portal, faster than it sounds in practice, since PSE&G's 2–4 week scheduling is what actually sets your timeline. Fees are $175–$300 and are included in our price. We file it and meet the inspector; you do not go to the counter.
Do I need condo board approval for electrical work in Hoboken?
In most Hoboken condo buildings, yes — board or management approval is required before any panel work, and some buildings maintain an approved-contractor list and require a certificate of insurance naming the association. The building's main service capacity also caps what an individual unit can add. We verify building service and handle the board paperwork before quoting, and our COI is available within 24 hours.
Why do Hoboken brownstones so often have Federal Pacific panels?
Because the conversion wave hit at the wrong moment. Many Hoboken row houses were split into multiple units, or had their service updated, between the late 1950s and the 1970s — exactly when Federal Pacific Stab-Lok and Zinsco panels were the standard product. Both are now known fire hazards whose breakers can fail to trip under load, and most New Jersey insurance carriers will not write or renew a policy on a home that still has one. Replacement is the only fix; they cannot be repaired.
Can you run recessed lighting in a Hoboken brownstone ceiling?
Yes, and it is one of our regular Hoboken jobs. Original plaster-and-lath ceilings, tin ceilings and limited joist depth all make it more involved than in new construction, and in a multi-unit building there is the question of what sits above you. We assess the ceiling structure and the circuit capacity first, lay out the cans for even light rather than a grid on paper, and patch cleanly. The permit is included.
Who Wrote This
Michael Malfettone, Licensed Master Electrician

Third-generation owner of Malfettone Electric, family-owned in Jersey City since 1977. Michael has personally run panel upgrades, rewires and service changes across Hoboken and the rest of Hudson County— filing the permits, submitting the PSE&G applications, and meeting the inspectors himself. The prices and timelines on this page come from our own recent Hoboken jobs.

NJ Electrical Contractor License #17130 · Family-owned since 1977 · Hudson & Essex County · Read Michael's full bio →
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Need an electrician in Hoboken?

Send us photos or hop on a short video call — most Hoboken jobs can be quoted without a truck roll. Written price, permit included, nearly 50 years of doing this work here.

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