Cumberland County, Maine
Licensed, insured electrical work for Freeport homes and businesses, with the owner on every job.
Freeport is two towns in one: a downtown on Route 1 where nineteenth-century buildings sit beside the L.L.Bean campus, and a long shoreline of old shipbuilding villages along the Harraseeket River and Casco Bay, with farms and newer neighborhoods inland. Across all of it, Goodnow Electric, a Maine master electrician (license MS60021971) working out of Westbrook, handles service changes, EV chargers, generators, rewiring, lighting and emergencies at any hour, for old houses and new.
Freeport's roughly 4,250 homes have a median build year of 1984, according to the American Community Survey, but the spread is wide. About 30 percent went up in 2000 or later, while about 17 percent predate 1940 and the town's own Climate Action Plan counts 40 percent of homes as built before 1970. Single-family detached houses account for about 72 percent, and the owner-occupied share, about 78 percent, trails Yarmouth, Pownal and Cumberland. Mobile homes make up about 6 percent of the stock, and the ACS counts about 280 seasonal units. For electrical work, that mix means everything from 60- and 100-amp services in old village houses to manufactured homes with their own service rules and newer homes with 200-amp panels.
Heating oil still heats about 44 percent of Freeport's occupied homes in the ACS, with propane at about 23 percent, electricity at about 13 percent, utility gas around 8 percent and wood about 7 percent. Nearly 5 percent report solar, the highest share of any town in Cumberland County in that survey. The town's Climate Action Plan, approved in December 2024, draws its gas data from Summit Natural Gas and sets targets for residential heat pump installations and EV adoption; in the plan's community survey, 47 percent of respondents said they had already installed a heat pump. Each of those conversions puts more load on a home's electrical service.
Central Maine Power supplies Freeport's electricity, and the town's plan names intense storms, high winds and coastal flooding as current risks that cause outages. The December 18, 2023 windstorm, with 50 to 60 mph gusts through the day, left roughly four in ten of the region's electric customers without power. Then on January 13, 2024, Portland's tide gauge hit a record 14.57 feet as waves and surge damaged waterfronts around the county. Casco Bay water levels have risen 7.5 inches since 1912, so homes near the Harraseeket and the bay face flooding as well as wind.
Freeport was incorporated in 1789 and named for the openness of its harbor. It grew as four communities: Mast Landing, where timber for ship masts was shipped to England, Porter's Landing, South Freeport, which once had four shipyards, and Freeport Corner. The Harraseeket Historic District, listed in 1974, covers the maritime villages on both banks of the river down to Wolfe's Neck, including the Pettengill House, a saltbox farm. The Freeport Main Street Historic District preserves the nineteenth-century town center just south of L.L.Bean, founded here in 1912. The Downeaster stops in town.
Freeport issues and inspects electrical permits locally. The Codes Enforcement office at 30 Main Street runs an online permitting system for applications, plans and inspection requests, and its guidance says an electrical permit is required whenever new wiring is done. Inspections should be requested at least 48 hours ahead, and the office asks for two business days of lead time for electrical inspections. Downtown projects fall under the town's Design Review Ordinance, which protects historic buildings. A Shoreland Zoning Ordinance adopted in 2022 and a Floodplain Management Ordinance govern work near the water.
Commercial, solar, smart home and new construction work are covered on our full list of electrical services.
Close to Freeport, we also work in Pownal, Yarmouth, Brunswick, Harpswell, Cumberland, and Gorham. Every town we serve is listed on our service area page.
Homeowners here often read why LED lighting upgrades pay back fastest, electrical planning for a new home in Southern Maine, and whole-house vs. portable generators for Maine homes.
More resources: answers to common electrical questions, our generator sizing guide, and electrical tips and guides for Maine homeowners.
“Brett was super responsive when we called. He had John out to our house 48 hours later! Brett and John were both very friendly and John did excellent work! Would highly recommend Goodnow Electric and will use them again when needed. 10/10!”
Gina McCurdy • July 2025 • Google Review
Tell us what you need done and where; a licensed electrician will reply with a written quote.
