24/7 Emergency Electrical Service in Tampa Bay
A burning smell at an outlet, a panel that sparks when you open it, half the house dark after a storm — none of that waits for Monday morning. Third Gen Electric answers emergency electrical calls around the clock across Tampa Bay. We make the situation safe first, then fix it properly.
Emergency Electrical Service
An electrical emergency is anything where waiting makes it worse: heat, smoke, arcing, exposed conductors, or water where it shouldn't be. If you're reading this while something is actively burning or smoking, stop and call 911 first. For everything else, call us — and if you're unsure whether it qualifies, describe it on the phone, and we'll tell you straight whether it can wait until morning.
- Burning smell or smoke from an outlet, switch, or panel
- Sparking or arcing outlets, switches, and breakers
- Partial power loss — half the house dark
- Breakers that trip immediately and won't reset
- Exposed, damaged, or chewed wiring
- Storm, surge, and lightning damage
- Water-damaged panels and circuits
- Damage left behind by an electrical fire
What to Do Before We Arrive
If there's fire or smoke, get everyone out and call 911 — never put water on an electrical fire. If the burning smell, heat, or buzzing is coming from the panel itself, do not open or operate it; leave the house and call the utility and us. Otherwise, if you can reach the main breaker safely, shut it off and leave it off — stand to one side, use one hand, and never while standing in water. Don't reset a breaker that trips the instant you do; it's doing exactly what it was designed to do. Two things people get caught by: shutting off the main does not de-energize solar panels, a battery, or a standby generator, so treat those as live; and if anyone in the house is on oxygen or powered medical equipment, call us before killing power so we can plan around it. For downed lines, assume every one is energized, stay at least 30 feet back, and don't touch anything they're contacting — a fence, a limb, a car, standing water. If a line falls on your vehicle, stay inside it until the utility says otherwise.
Storm & Surge Damage
Storm season here runs June through November, and lightning does damage year-round. The aftermath shows up as surge-killed electronics, a torn-loose service mast, water in the panel, or a meter base pulled off the wall. The mast, weatherhead, meter can, and everything inside them belong to you, not the utility — which is why a licensed electrician has to make that repair, pull a permit, and get an inspection release sent to the utility before they will reconnect you. That release is usually what sets your timeline, so the sooner the repair starts the better.
- Post-storm electrical inspection
- Lightning and surge damage assessment
- Service entrance and weather head repair
- Meter base repair and utility reconnection coordination
- Water-damaged equipment replacement — submerged panels and breakers cannot be dried out and reused
- Whole-home surge protection installation
- Emergency generator and transfer switch repair
- Written documentation for insurance claims
Why Third Gen Electric?
Licensed electrical contractors with over 30 years serving Tampa Bay homes and businesses. We do the job right the first time.
- Licensed & insured — EC13016137
- 30+ years of electrical experience in Tampa Bay
- Available 24/7 — nights, weekends, and holidays
- Storm and hurricane season response
- Make-safe first, then permanent repair
- Utility coordination for service-entrance damage
Credentials & Availability
- Licensed & Insured (EC13016137)
- 24/7 Emergency Availability
- Free Estimates
- Family-Owned, 30+ Years Experience
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about emergency electrical service. Don't see yours? Give us a call — we're happy to talk through your project.
What counts as an electrical emergency?
Anything involving heat, smoke, or arcing: a burning smell at an outlet or panel, scorch marks, sparking, a panel that's hot or buzzing, exposed or damaged conductors, or water in or around electrical equipment. A breaker that trips once is usually not an emergency; a breaker that trips instantly every time you reset it is. When in doubt, call and describe it — we'd rather talk you through it than have you sit on something that shouldn't wait.
What should I do before you get there?
Follow the safety steps above, and then two things make the visit faster. Take a photo from a safe distance if you can — of the panel label, the breaker that tripped, or the damaged fixture — so we arrive with the right parts. And note what was running when it happened: an air handler starting, a space heater, a storm. That detail narrows the fault more than almost anything else you can tell us.
My power is out — is that an emergency or a utility problem?
If the whole neighborhood is dark, it's the utility, and they'll have an outage map. If it's only your house, call the utility first anyway — a single-home outage is very often a bad connection at the drop, a failed meter, or a blown fuse on the transformer serving you, and they check all of that at no charge. If their equipment tests good, the fault is between the meter and your panel, and that's ours.
Can you come out during or right after a hurricane?
Not during the storm — nobody should be on a ladder or in a panel in those conditions, and we won't send anyone out. We respond as soon as it's safe to travel. Demand is heavy in the days afterward, so call early to get in the queue. If your service mast or meter base is damaged, that repair has to happen before the utility will reconnect you, and getting on the list sooner matters.
Do you provide documentation for an insurance claim?
Yes. We document in writing what failed, what caused it where that can be determined, and what the repair required. For storm, surge, and fire damage this is usually what the adjuster needs. Tell us at the start that there's a claim involved so we can photograph and document the damage properly as we go, instead of reconstructing it afterward.
Why does half my house have power while the other half doesn't?
Your service is split across two 120-volt legs, and half the house going dark is the signature of a lost leg — a failed main breaker, a bad utility connection, or a corroded service conductor. Don't assume the dark half is safe to work on: those circuits are routinely backfed through a 240-volt appliance and can still sit at a dangerous potential. A different and more dangerous fault is an open neutral, and it looks nothing like this — everything stays lit, but lights brighten in one room when something switches on in another, and appliances start failing, because the two legs are now dividing 240 volts between them. If you suspect an open service neutral, shutting off your main won't clear it, since the fault is upstream: stay off plumbing and appliance housings, get people out, and call the utility and us together.
Emergency Electrical Service Across Tampa Bay
Licensed, permitted work throughout the Tampa Bay area. Pick your area to see what we handle there.
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Contact us for a free estimate. No obligation, no pressure — just honest advice from people who know electrical.