When should you call an emergency electrician?

First: is it 911 or the utility?

An electrician repairs the problem. Some situations need someone else to make them safe first.

Situation	Who to call first
Smoke, flame, or sparking from an outlet, fixture, appliance, or the panel	911. Get everyone out.
A burning smell you can’t trace, or one that’s getting stronger	911. Leave the house.
Someone has been shocked and is hurt	911. Don’t touch them if they may still be in contact with the source.
A downed or sagging power line, or a damaged meter or service mast	The utility. Stay well away; assume it’s energized.
Water has reached the panel, outlets, or cords	The utility to disconnect power. Don’t enter standing water.

Pennsylvania utility numbers: Met-Ed (York, Reading, and Hanover areas) 1-888-544-4877. PPL Electric Utilities (Lancaster, Harrisburg, and Allentown areas) 1-800-342-5775. If you’re elsewhere, the number is on your bill.

Then: does it need an electrician now?

Once everyone is safe, these problems justify an urgent call instead of waiting for a regular appointment:

• The panel or a breaker is hot, buzzing, or crackling.
• An outlet or switch is scorched, melted, or smells hot.
• Part of the house has no power and nothing has tripped, while the neighbors have power. That points to your panel or service connection.
• Lights brighten and dim across the house. That can be a loose neutral connection, which can damage electronics and appliances.
• A breaker trips instantly every time it’s reset.
• You’ve lost power to heat, a sump pump, or medical equipment in cold weather or a storm.

What can usually wait

If nothing is hot, smoking, sparking, or smelling, these can usually wait for a regular appointment, which costs less:

• A single dead outlet (after you’ve pressed the reset button on any GFCI outlets)
• One flickering fixture
• A breaker that tripped once and has stayed on since you reset it
• A switch that stopped working
• Planning work like a panel upgrade or rewiring

Stop using the affected outlet or circuit until it’s fixed.

Partial outages: yours or the utility’s?

If half the house goes dark:

1. Check the neighbors. If they’re out too, it’s a utility outage; report it.
2. Check the panel for a tripped breaker, without opening the cover.
3. If the neighbors have power and nothing has tripped, the problem is likely your panel or service connection. Call an electrician, and don’t touch the meter.

While you wait

• Keep people, kids, and pets away from the problem.
• Unplug things on the affected circuit if you can do it without touching anything hot, wet, or damaged.
• Don’t open the panel or remove covers. The service conductors feeding the main breaker stay live even when it’s off.
• Have your address, ZIP code, and a description of what happened ready.

What an emergency call costs

Angi’s 2026 data says emergency visits often cost about double the normal hourly rate, or $100 to $200 added for nights and weekends, on top of a typical $100 to $200 service call. Asking for a “make it safe tonight, full repair tomorrow” approach can keep costs down. See emergency electrician and the Pennsylvania cost guide.

Availability after hours depends on participating electricians in your area; we can’t promise a response time.