York County, Maine
Licensed, insured electrical work for York homes and businesses, with the owner on every job.
York runs from the Kittery line to Cape Neddick and up the slopes of Mount Agamenticus, and its houses range from colonial homesteads in York Village to Shingle-style summer places in York Harbor and cottages near Long Sands. Goodnow Electric is a licensed master electrician working out of Westbrook, and this page gathers what matters about wiring a York home: how old the houses are, how they heat, who delivers the power, what the code office asks for, and what coastal storms do to service equipment.
The Census Bureau’s latest five-year survey counts about 8,800 housing units in York for roughly 14,000 residents, and about 3,000 of those units are held for seasonal use, a third of the town’s stock. The median home was built in 1977. About 22 percent date from before 1940 and another 10 percent from 1940 to 1959, while roughly 24 percent went up between 1960 and 1979. Around 83 percent are single-family detached houses, about 9 percent sit in buildings of two to four units, and 2 percent are mobile homes. For wiring, that mix means prewar houses that may still hide knob-and-tube or cloth-insulated cable, postwar ranches on 100-amp panels sized long before heat pumps, and summer cottages being converted to year-round living on services built for a few lights and a water heater.
Fuel oil heats about 55 percent of York’s occupied homes, propane about 22 percent, electricity about 10 percent and wood close to 6 percent; utility gas reaches only about 4 percent. Unitil’s published list of Maine towns with its natural gas service does not include York, so a standby generator here usually runs on propane. Every oil boiler replaced with heat pumps moves a large winter load onto the electric panel, and an electric vehicle adds another. Efficiency Maine’s off-peak charger incentive is worth $400 on a qualifying Level 2 charger that pauses during the 5 to 9 p.m. weekday peak.
Central Maine Power delivers electricity throughout York, and the town’s emergency preparedness page sends residents to CMP, not the police, to report and track outages. York County was one of the counties in the federal disaster declaration for the January 9 to 13, 2024 storms, when Portland’s tide gauge set a record of 14.57 feet. The October 2017 windstorm left more than 400,000 Maine customers dark, some for over a week. The town’s flood page recalls the February 1978 coastal storm and notes that York was one of two pilot communities for resurveying its high-water marks. Well pumps, sump pumps and heating controls all stop when the power does.
York is divided into York Village, York Harbor, York Beach and Cape Neddick, with Bald Head at the southern end. The York Historic District was listed on the National Register in 1973 and the York Cliffs Historic District in 1984, and the Old York Historical Society keeps a cluster of village buildings as museums, among them the Old York Gaol and the John Hancock Warehouse. York Harbor still shows its Gilded Age Shingle-style houses, York Beach has its arcades and shops around Short Sands, and the Cape Neddick Light on Nubble Rock is visible from much of the shore.
York’s Code Enforcement Office moved to online permitting through OpenGov on October 27, 2025, and building permits, plumbing permits, inspection scheduling and Historic District Commission applications now run through that portal, with counter visits by appointment. The town fee schedule lists building, accessory dwelling unit, shoreland, watershed, flood and well permits but no separate electrical permit. For residential work the town uses an Electrical Installation Code Compliance Affidavit, signed by the licensed electrician, stating the work meets the National Electrical Code edition adopted by the Maine Electricians’ Examining Board, which is the 2026 NEC for installations begun on or after July 1, 2026.
Commercial, solar, smart home and new construction work are covered on our full list of electrical services.
Close to York, we also work in Kittery, Eliot, Ogunquit, South Berwick, North Berwick, and Wells. Every town we serve is listed on our service area page.
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.
