York County, Maine
Licensed, insured electrical work for Hollis homes and businesses, with the owner on every job.
Hollis lies on the west bank of the Saco River across from Buxton, a town of about 4,900 people on 33 square miles of woods and river villages: Bar Mills, Salmon Falls, Bonny Eagle, Moderation Falls and North Hollis. Close to 88 percent of households own their home, and roughly a third of the houses date from the 1960s and 1970s, one of the largest shares of that era in the region. Goodnow Electric serves Hollis from 51 Wilson Drive in Westbrook, with the same free written estimates it offers everywhere.
Census Bureau survey figures count about 1,950 housing units in Hollis and only about 75 seasonal homes. Owners live in roughly 88 percent of them, single-family houses make up about 84 percent, and mobile homes nearly 10 percent; apartment buildings are rare. The town's building boom came in the 1960s and 1970s, when about 34 percent of today's homes went up, one of the largest shares for that era in Cumberland and York counties. Another fifth predate 1940, and about 42 percent are newer than 1980; the median house dates to 1977. Houses from that mid-century wave often still have their original 100-amp panels, too few kitchen circuits and, in some, aluminum branch wiring.
Fuel oil heats about 65 percent of occupied homes in Hollis. Propane follows at about 15 percent, wood at about 9 percent and electricity at about 7 percent, with piped gas at about 1 percent. With so much oil and so many houses from the 1970s, a heat-pump conversion here usually lands on an original 100-amp service already feeding the burner, the well, the kitchen range and the dryer. Adding up those loads tells whether a heat pump, a heat-pump water heater or an EV charger can go on as is, or whether a larger service has to come first. Long rural driving distances make home EV charging especially practical.
Central Maine Power serves the area, and most of the local distribution runs overhead along wooded roads. The Saco River has powered Hollis for centuries, turning mills at Bar Mills, Moderation Falls, North Hollis and Bonny Eagle Falls, but homes depend on the utility grid like everyone else. Maine's worst weather-related outage on record came with the October 2017 nor'easter, which left more than 400,000 outages statewide, some for over a week; a December 2023 nor'easter added about 300,000 more. When the power fails in Hollis, private wells stop delivering water and oil boilers go cold.
Hollis began as Little Falls Plantation, bought in 1664, and a trading post and blockhouse went up on the Saco in 1728. The town was incorporated as Phillipsburg in 1798 and renamed Hollis in 1810. Water power built its villages: lumber mills, a spool factory, a woodturning mill, a wooden box factory and the Saco River Woolen Company all worked the river. The Salmon Falls (West) Historic District, listed in 1987, holds ten buildings, mostly Federal and Greek Revival, including Quillcote, home of author Kate Douglas Wiggin, who opened the Salmon Falls Library there in 1911.
The Hollis Code Enforcement Office requires permits for structural and building work, plumbing and zoning or land-use changes, uses the 2021 International Residential and Building Codes, and takes most applications through an online permitting portal. It also handles shoreland zone tree removal permits. Electrical work is absent from that list. Maine routes electrical permits through the state Electricians' Examining Board wherever a town has no electrical inspector of its own, and a single-family house goes through state certification rather than a permit. Electrical jobs started July 1, 2026 or later are held to the 2026 edition of the National Electrical Code.
Commercial, solar, smart home and new construction work are covered on our full list of electrical services.
Planning ahead? Read electrical planning for a new home in Southern Maine, whole-house vs. portable generators for Maine homes, and why LED lighting upgrades pay back fastest.
More resources: answers to common electrical questions, our generator sizing guide, and electrical tips and guides for Maine homeowners.
“Brett and team did a great job installing some lights, switches and outlets in our home. Brett’s team was professional and worked with me to figure out the best locations, size, and number of lights to install in our home. They go above and beyond to make sure the customer is happy.”
Draven Walker • September 2025 • Google Review
Tell us what you need done and where; a licensed electrician will reply with a written quote.
