Planning for a Major Electrical System Upgrade in the Hospitality Industry

Aging electrical systems in buildings over 50 years old are reaching the end of their lifespan, making upgrades essential for safety, reliability, and modern power demands. Hotels and similar facilities face increasing strain from new technologies, energy needs, and EV charging requirements. Though replacement is costly and complex, proactive assessment and planning can prevent catastrophic failures and protect long-term property value.

This article highlights the urgent need for electrical system upgrades in buildings more than 50 years old, particularly hotels and condotels. Over time, critical electrical components such as wire insulation, conduits, and breakers degrade, posing safety and reliability risks. Modern demands for power—from energy-efficient but electricity-hungry technologies, enhanced amenities, and electric vehicle (EV) charging—are far beyond what mid-20th-century electrical systems were designed to handle. As the hospitality industry evolves, facilities that fail to modernize risk becoming obsolete or devalued compared to those equipped with adequate electrical infrastructure and EV charging capabilities.

However, replacing or upgrading a building’s electrical system is a complex and costly process. It involves logistical challenges like finding space for new conduits, securing larger transformers, and routing new circuits into guestrooms without disrupting operations. The process also triggers additional considerations such as generator upgrades, code compliance, and long permitting timelines—often stretching two to three years before construction even begins. The article emphasizes that the first step is an assessment by a qualified electrical engineer to determine whether full replacement or phased upgrades are needed. With aging infrastructure and growing energy demands, the message is clear: delaying action risks catastrophic failures and costly downtime, while proactive planning can secure safety, compliance, and long-term value.
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Do You Feel LuckY? Planning for a Major Electrical System Upgrade in the Hospitality Industry

Electrical systems in buildings over 50 years old will inevitably need replacement. Even if electrical loads in the building have remained constant over the past five decades, there is a shelf-life for electrical components. Insulation on the wires becomes brittle, underground conduits rust, and mechanical breakers lose the ability to be reset after they are turned off. Some of the larger systems in hotels and condotels have high-voltage distribution systems. These are of particular concern due to their high capacity and the tendency to fail spectacularly.

TIMES ARE CHANGING
Even with the current push for more energy-efficient lighting and appliances, energy consumption continues to rise. When hotel buildings were built in the 1950s and 1960s, the electrical service size to the building was small. People did not travel with hairdryers, curling irons, computers and phones. As rooms are refurbished, often the lighting and finishes are replaced but the poor old electrical system remains untouched. Vacationers demand better air conditioning and more amenities. Lobbies contain light-emitting diode (LED) walls and other power-hungry technology. Everything demands more power.

ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING
Love them or hate them, electric vehicles (EVs) are here to stay. Many buildings have installed public chargers to help alleviate the demand for vehicle charging, but these chargers are often not available. All of the major car rental fleets contain EVs. People who love EVs will gravitate toward hotels that can accommodate their charging needs.

The Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting (DPP) has mandated expedited permits for vehicle chargers. The tide is coming in for these systems and it may not be long before buildings that cannot offer individual vehicle charging may lose value to the buildings that can.

ROADBLOCKS AHEAD
There are some major obstacles to the replacement of an existing building’s electrical system. First, there will have to be a new place in the building to run the system. A commercial building normally cannot just shut down for six months to install a new system. A new system will need to be installed and energized prior to the old system being de-energized. Older buildings often lack the space for this and innovation on the part of the electrical engineer is required.

Second, the Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) transformer is likely to get bigger, and HECO is particular about where they allow transformers to be installed. Alternatively, a customer-owned transformer can be installed, but that comes with its own headaches.

Third, a path will need to be forged into each guestroom for new circuitry. The only path to the rooms is often down the corridor. This will require creative work with the ceiling to keep a pleasant atmosphere in the corridor.

Finally, this is a big capital improvement project that could cost several million dollars. It will likely be linked to a larger capital improvement project.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
An electrical system upgrade will trigger the requirement for an emergency generator if the building doesn’t already have one. If it does have one, some questions will need to be answered. How old is it? Should a new generator be bigger? Is the fuel storage still code-compliant? What about the exhaust?
Sometimes these questions have practical answers based on space limitations and the standard sizes of electrical panels. Guidance is required from the engineer in answering these questions optimally.

DO NOT DELAY!
Lead times for electrical equipment are very long, over a year for some items. It is currently taking more than one year to get permits approved by the DPP for infrastructure upgrade projects. HECO review takes one year or longer. If a building decides to upgrade an electrical system today, it would be two to three years before construction is completed, even if the equipment is ordered during the wait for the permit.

WHAT IS THE FIRST STEP?
The present electrical system should be assessed by a licensed electrical engineer with experience in the type of system installed in the building. Experience is the key qualification here. Just because something is old does not necessarily mean it is unsafe or needs to be replaced.

An assessment will help identify if a total replacement is just around the corner, or if it is something a building can plan for over the next 10 years. There may be parts of the system that can be reused and others that require replacement. The capacity may be an immediate issue, or it may be just the right size.

The assessment should also include an infrared scan of the connections. Even if a total replacement is planned, this will identify problems and extend the life of the system, so it does not go down during the long and arduous wait for the permit.

Once there is a proper assessment, planning can begin for the next step, whether it be a phased repair or total replacement. This will allow planning for finances also. A good engineer can estimate budget prices based on their experience in the local market. Planning for this expenditure in advance can make it relatively painless when the time comes to start the project.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
Buildings do not function without electricity. Remember when downtown Honolulu was almost completely without power for a week? It was due to multiple 50-year-old cable failures. There are many older buildings that have the same type of cables that are as old or older as the ones that failed in downtown Honolulu. The economic losses of a failure that takes months to fix will dwarf the cost of a timely replacement.

Do you feel lucky?  Gambling with the health of your building’s electrical system is dangerous and potentially very costly. The time is now to get the ball rolling on an electrical system assessment.