Three crews. Six electricians plus Andrew. One shop on Virginia Ave. One brightly painted van you've probably already seen around town.
Andrew Holbein started Power to the People in Asheville in 2017[year-tbd] because he was tired of watching homeowners get pushed into electrical work they didn't actually need. Estimates that ballooned. Quotes written in jargon. Crews that disappeared after the deposit cleared.
His rule has been the same from day one: tell the customer what's best for their home, not what's most profitable for the company. Sometimes that means a $200 outlet repair instead of a $4,000 panel upgrade. Sometimes it means saying "this can wait six months." Sometimes — for Asheville's pre-1950 historic homes with knob & tube in the walls — it means a real, plain-English plan for a $20,000 rewire.
Either way, you get the answer in language you can repeat back to your spouse over dinner. And when the work happens, it's backed by a lifetime workmanship warranty for as long as we're in business — which we plan to be for a long time.
— Andrew Holbein, Owner · NC Licensed Electrical Contractor [License # TBD]
Our shop sits at 161 Virginia Ave in West Asheville — the kind of place where the door's usually open and there's always a project being prepped on the workbench. From here, three crews fan out across Buncombe County and the surrounding 50-mile radius, in a fleet of vans you've probably noticed: bright yellow with peace signs, daisies, and the fist-and-lightning logo.
Six licensed electricians plus Andrew. All employees, not subcontractors — meaning the person quoting your job is on the same team as the person doing it. The phone is staffed Monday through Friday, 8am to 6pm.
No mystery. Here's exactly what happens between you picking up the phone and us cleaning up the last bit of drywall dust.
Andrew or a crew member picks up. We ask what's going on, ballpark the problem, and book a free in-person assessment for residential service work or rewire estimates. Realtor-referred home? Inspection is always free, no obligation.
You get an itemized, plain-English quote with real Asheville cost ranges — not a vague "starts at" number. If a panel upgrade is going to be $1,800 or $3,200, we tell you why each. If we think the work can wait, we tell you that too.
No pressure tactics, no expiring "today only" discounts. When you're ready, we book a date. For bigger jobs (whole-house rewires, panel + service upgrades) we coordinate with Duke Energy and pull permits — that's on us.
We stay in touch the whole way through. You'll know when we're starting, when we're stopping for the day, and what we found inside the walls. Job ends with a clean walkthrough and a written warranty for the work.
The owner answers the phone. He shows up to your house. He writes the quote. If something goes sideways, you can find him — same name, same shop, same number. Mr. Electric, A-American, the franchises — they have call centers and rotating crews. We have Andrew.
If something we installed fails because of how we did the work — wiring, a panel install, a connection — we come back and fix it. Free. For as long as we're in business. Manufacturer defects are covered separately by the manufacturer; we'll help you navigate that paperwork too.
Compare any electrician site in Asheville. Most won't tell you a number until they're at your door. We publish typical ranges right on the homepage — knob & tube rewires, panel upgrades, EV chargers — so you can ballpark the budget before you call. You should know what you're walking into.
Andrew's specialty is knob & tube rewires — the pre-1950 wiring you find in Asheville's craftsman bungalows in Montford, Grove Park, and Kenilworth. We've done dozens, and we've gotten very good at minimizing drywall damage along the way.
But day-to-day, the bread and butter is residential service work: that one breaker that keeps tripping, the dead outlet behind the couch, the ceiling fan you bought six months ago that's still in the box. We also install EV chargers (we drive a BrightDrop EV van — we've done plenty for ourselves and our customers), upgrade electrical panels, and put in standby generators for outage protection.
Whatever the job — call us before you call a franchise.
If you're within about a 50-mile radius of West Asheville, we'll come out. From our shop on Virginia Ave, we're typically 15-30 minutes from any of these:
Outside this list? Call anyway. If we can fit you in, we will.
We answer the phone Monday through Friday, 8am to 6pm.
(828) 551-9843 Call now