Service Entrance
Also known as: SEservice dropservice lateralweatherheadmast
The service entrance is the physical infrastructure that brings utility power from PG&E's lines into your home. In California, the standard configuration is a "combination meter main" — a single integrated enclosure that contains the meter socket, the main service disconnect, AND the primary distribution breakers, all in one outdoor cabinet mounted on an exterior wall. There is no separate "meter base" as a distinct box in California residential service — that's an older or out-of-region setup. The full service entrance stack, from the utility side down, is: service drop (overhead) or service lateral (underground) → weatherhead (cap at the top of an overhead mast) → rigid mast → service entrance conductors (the heavy wires from weatherhead down) → combination meter main → conductors from the CMM's distribution section out to branch circuits and any sub-panels → grounding electrode system (ground rods, water-main bond, grounding electrode conductor).
The utility owns everything up to the line side of the meter socket; the homeowner owns the combination meter main enclosure and everything downstream.
In our area, a main panel job is never "just the panel." It's a full electrical service rebuild — every main panel upgrade OR like-for-like replacement renews the entire service between PG&E and your branch circuits. On overhead service that means everything from the weatherhead to the ground rods: new weatherhead, new rigid mast, new SE conductors, new combination meter main, new grounding + bonding to current code. On underground service the mast and weatherhead don't exist, so the scope is new SE conductors from the utility service point, new combination meter main, new grounding + bonding. Either way it's the full service, replaced as one integrated scope. It's not separable into "panel only" vs "panel + service entrance" pricing tiers, and same-amperage replacements aren't a smaller-scope job than amperage upsizes — the physical scope is identical; the only variable is what capacity you're rebuilding to. You're renewing the whole utility-to-house connection, which is why the price is what it is.
Service entrance work coordinates with PG&E. We handle the permit, schedule the PG&E disconnect/reconnect, do the work, and get it inspected. You see one number for the job; behind the scenes it's several days of scheduling. Plan for a 4-8 hour power outage on swap day.
Met this term in a quote or inspection report?
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