Town of East Hampton
Standby Generators in East Hampton, NY
A whole-house standby generator sized for a typical East Hampton home runs $1,516–8,810 installed by national figures, with an 18–22 kilowatt unit fitting most houses by the manufacturer’s own sizing guidance. Where East Hampton falls under the Town of Southampton, the generator permit is a flat $200; the electrician we send you sizes the unit and files the permit.
Last updated · Reviewed by Water Mill Electric Co.
A standby generator in East Hampton is bought for one specific scenario: a multi-day outage with nobody home to notice. That is a real event here, not a hypothetical one, and the electrician we put you in touch with sizes the unit to the house rather than selling the biggest one on the lot.
Generators in East Hampton: what's different here
Shingle-style village houses with panels and service runs on Suffolk County Water Authority streets that have often gone decades untouched, oceanfront estates south of the highway running a standby generator and pool lighting on an upgraded service, and Springs and Northwest Woods houses on wells whose pumps stop the moment the power does.
East Hampton covers everything from year-round homes to houses closed up for months, and a generator earns its keep fastest on the ones nobody is watching when the power goes out.
Tropical Storm Isaias, in August 2020, took out about 645,000 Long Island customers for up to eight days — the kind of multi-day outage a standby generator is bought against. The Town of East Hampton's Building Department asks for two sets of quarter-inch plans, licensed-contractor documentation and workers' compensation for a permit, and its own 13-question FAQ never once mentions electrical work by name — the same gap the plumbing and HVAC sheets each found at this department for their own trades.
Permits in East Hampton run through the Village of East Hampton Building Department inside the village; Town of East Hampton Building Department — with its own approved third-party electrical inspection agencies — for Springs, Northwest Woods and the rest of the town; the electrician we put you in touch with handles the filing where one is required.
How it works
Tell us about the job once. One licensed, insured electrician who works East Hampton and handles generators regularly contacts you within 1 business day. Free for homeowners, no spam calls.
FAQ
Generators questions
How much does a standby generator cost in the Hamptons?
Generac, the manufacturer, sizes an 18–22 kilowatt unit as the "sweet spot" for a roughly 2,000-square-foot house, and its own 22 kilowatt unit lists at $6,309–7,369 before installation. Installed, a whole-house standby generator runs $1,516–8,810 nationally by one guide (average $5,160) — though two other guides say $1,540–8,740 and $5,505–10,245. Putting the unit price together with typical installation, a pad and a permit works out to roughly $8,900–13,900 all-in for a 22 kilowatt unit. The Town of Southampton charges a flat $200 generator permit. Two real East End electrical companies already sell standby generators as a standard service line.
Read the full answer →Do I need a permit for a generator, EV charger or outdoor lighting in Southampton?
Yes, all three are separately permitted electrical work under the Town of Southampton's own 2026 fee schedule: a generator is a flat $200, an EV charging station is $100 each, and outdoor or landscape/pool lighting is $200 — one code covers both landscape and pool-adjacent fixtures under a single filing. The standard electrical permit application has dedicated fields for a generator's size and fuel type and for the number of EV chargers being installed, and it requires the contractor's Suffolk County electrical license number. A roughly 3% credit-card surcharge applies to fees paid by card. Outside Southampton Town, the permit desk and the fee differ — the electrician we send you to your town knows which one applies and files it.
How does Water Mill Electric Co. work?
Tell us what's going on with the house — an emergency, a repair, a generator, an EV charger, lighting, a rewire, or new construction — and where it is. We put you in touch with one licensed, insured electrician who works your town and does that kind of work, and they call you back, typically the same day for a genuine emergency. From there it's their quote, their schedule, their warranty. It's free for homeowners; participating electricians pay us a referral fee for the introduction. We are not an electrical contractor, we don't sell equipment, generators, panels or solar, and we don't sell your details — the one company we send you to is the only one that gets your number. We cover 9 South Fork towns and 7 kinds of electrical work.
Services
More in East Hampton
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Electrical Repair & Troubleshooting in East Hampton
A dead outlet, a flickering light, a breaker that trips for no obvious reason: national rates, what an inspection costs, and why an old house sometimes turns a small repair into a bigger conversation.
Panel & Service Upgrades in East Hampton
Upgrading a panel to 200 or 400 amps for a renovation, a generator or an EV charger: three disagreeing national cost estimates, and the one real, current Southampton Town permit fee schedule.
EV Chargers in East Hampton
What a Level 2 home EV charger costs installed, the PSEG Long Island rebate that cuts the price, and the flat $100 Southampton Town permit fee.
Landscape, Pool & Outdoor Lighting in East Hampton
What low-voltage landscape lighting and pool lighting cost per fixture and for a whole project, and the flat $200 Southampton Town permit that covers both.
Rewiring, Additions & New Construction in East Hampton
Whole-house rewiring costs vary by 2–3x across national cost guides, even from the same publisher; what the National Electrical Code requires, and what an old house’s wiring does to insurance.
Book an electrician in East Hampton
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