Power + Light

Arlene B.

Mike Grimm is my go-to electrician. He and all his staff are professional and knowledgeable as well as being very pleasant folks. Mike is honest and straightforward. As a Realtor, I've brought him to listings where the electrical system was a mess, and he offered a reasonable solution.I appreciate his willingness to help clients with bids for work, even when the buyer may not end up purchasing the home. The greatest vote of confidence I can give is having used him on my own home, a landmarked property with period details and rarified materials. Mike and all of his crew are always respectful of the properties they work on, and their owners. I recommend Power & Light without hesitation!

Michal R.

Mike Grin and Power + Light responded quickly to my request for electrical services. They estimated the job at $790 for the four tasks required. They completed the first task timely and I was happy with that work, although it did seem to go slowly. I did not receive an invoice for this work for several weeks and when I did receive it the amount, $923, exceeded the estimate of the total job. In the intervening month Power + Light proved unable to return to complete the job. In fairness, it was often rainy during this period.

M H.

On 8/28/10 I left a voicemail message with this company, saying that I was looking for an estimate on adding a couple of circuits to my home. As of 9/13/10 I have not recieved a call back. Poor business practice.

Kathryn H.

To finish a separate project and obtain city permit for electrical upgrade, I called Mike's company after finding them listed on Better Business Bureau website. I didn't find any of the other independent contractor names I was given listed on the BBB site. Power + light were very responsive and ready to take on the project. Prices were nearly the same. While at my home, the were clean and respectful and notified me of any anticipated outages , etc. I asked for other changes and they were flexible. I feel great about the quality of the work done. The city inspector agreed and signed off quickly...

Marc B.

I'd like to recommend Michael and his company. I am a licensed
plumbing, heating and air conditioning contractor myself, (Marc Brenner Co. est 1974) who has worked alongside these very excellent electricians over the years. They are hard working, thoughtful and knowledgeable.

Alexandria P.

Mike, Kenny and the rest of this team are the contractors one dreams about. I have used them for 3 large jobs over the past 7 years, as well as in an emergency situation recently.

Mike is extremely knowledgeable and honest. He and his crew are skilled, friendly and extremely detail oriented. They are accessible and finish the job on or ahead of schedule. They are prompt, stay late when necessary, and make every effort to leave the place clean.

Recently, when my refrigerator broke down, I called them. Mike responded and had Kenny come by as soon as he finished at the site where he was working that day...they go above and beyond any expectations I ever had.

I can't recommend them highly enough!

Cybil S.

MIke and his crew are wonderful. They are nice, clean, trustworthy, and damn good at their jobs. I just purchased an 1895 Victorian in Oakland. It has needed a lot of work, not just because it's old, but because the people who tried and failed to ""flip"" the home did a lot of ghetto work.

I received three bids for the electrical work that needed to be done to re-route all the various power incarnations and shoddy electrical work into one new electrical box. I also wanted to make sure that all the rooms had at least one grounded outlet to plug computers into.

Mike's bid was a fair price and I liked his honesty when he spoke with me. So I chose him. I'm glad I did too, because we had a miscommunication about the grounded plugs and when the work was all done I didn't have grounded plugs...

After he and I figured out how the miscommunication occured, he explained to me what needed to be done and the $$$ needed. He then offered another solution that would work until we were ready for the larger rewire and said he would do it for free due to the miscommunication. Now that's customer service and honesty at its finest!

I plan on using Mike and his team for many more jobs - including the future grounding of bedroom outlets.

Valerie W.

We highly recommend Power + Light and Mike (the owner) should you need a reliable electrician.

They came to our 1906 home and prior to moving in upgraded a few of the outlets and fixed old circuit breaker panels.

When our bill came we noticed that they had charged for one additional outlet. We called Mike and explained the error, he promptly removed the erroneous charges and re-sent the bill.

Mike is very reputable and trustworthy. When he came to our home to get payment I asked him about helping us to shed light in our craftsman dining room, he recommended against doing the work as it would involve a major amount of demo work. Gotta love a contractor who advises you AGAINST doing work.

I will definitely use Mike again and highly recommend his company to others.

Kate O.

The rating is based on (1) Power & Light's very prompt reply to my inquiry and (2) providing a very detailed and thorough inspection of a 1920s cottage on the Oakland/Piedmont border (3) providing several detailed proposals for different combinations of the work.

BACKGROUND: The house had repeatedly experienced blown circuits and fuses (a combination exists now). From prior residents I'd heard of sparking and a small fire. Mike was able to identify and explain the various factors that had resulted in this, and he very clearly explained the needed remedies, which are actually kind of complex due to the age of the house and my new requirements for more outlets (only one outlet per room currently). The house is now on 20amp / 120 volt service, which is very rare these days. (most buildings have already been updated, and this is work requires technical skills and good problem-solving skills with the logistics of bringing in new service from the PG&E pole.) MIke provided, per my request, a memo describing the conditions which detailed the reasons for the work that was proposed.

He ALSO provided separate estimates for the upgrade/retrofit work versus the additional outlets (in different rooms and outside) that I also needed.

His quote was one of three that I obtained and his provided the greatest detail (another quote just stated ""upgrade"" and the price) and the estimated $ was almost exactly the same as one other.

The third person who I called for an estimate said that he would have to bill too much money since the job was too complicated. I gave him a ball-park price of what I had been quoted and he candidly said that it was a great price.
Thus: A great price for a complex job of bringing a 1920s house (20amp / 120 v service) into the modern era... and a wonderful description so that I understand why the price was not just a few hundred dollars.
He understands the process of this upgrade as well.
He was also up-front about what their effort would NOT include, which I also appreciated.

His demeanor was fabulous - professional, helpful, friendly. Again, this review is based on this initial visit, but I was impressed with the clarity of the explanations and the labor he put into providing 4 separate documents for different uses. (There is a long story behind that need.)

Des Esseintes I.

Power & Light installed a new service panel and completely rewired my home. They did an excellent job, and were careful to install new outlets such that they matched the others in the house. They did a significant amount of work, but managed to only create two holes in walls in my utility room, which were patched well. They cleaned up after themselves--you'd never know they were here! I'd strongly recommend them for their reliability and expertise.