3 Reasons FPE Panels Are Considered Dangerous

So your electrician just dropped the phrase “FPE panel” into the conversation, and now you’re wondering if that’s good news, bad news, or just more alphabet soup. Here’s the spoiler: it’s bad news.

FPE stands for Federal Pacific Electric, a company that cranked out electrical panels from the 1950s through the 1980s. Back then, they were installed in homes all over the country, including plenty right here in Iowa. Fast forward to today, and those same panels have earned a reputation you don’t want attached to your home. In fact, consumer safety groups have placed FPE panels on the list of the five most dangerous electrical panels in America.

At Integra Electrical, we’ve dealt with more than our fair share of FPE panels, and the problems are consistent. They boil down to three main concerns that every homeowner should know before deciding what to do next.

FPE Panels are considered dangerous because

• The breakers don't trip when they are supposed to
• They give false safety certifications
• FPE has manufacturing issues and design flaws

FPE Panel's Breakers Don't Trip When They Are Supposed To

An electrical panel’s number-one job is to stop power when something goes wrong. That’s what the breakers are there for, to “trip” and cut the electricity before wires overheat and things catch fire. Simple enough, right?

The problem with FPE breakers is that many of them don’t trip when they should. In testing, they’ve been shown to fail more than half the time during overloads or short circuits. Imagine seatbelts that only worked every other car ride, you wouldn’t call that safe.

At Integra Electrical, we’ve seen this play out in real homes. A homeowner thinks their system is fine because “the breaker never trips,” but in reality, that’s the danger. If a breaker doesn’t trip, it means excess heat keeps building inside the wires and connections. That hidden heat can quietly smolder until it becomes something much worse.

FPE Panels Give False Safety Certification

One of the lesser-known but serious issues with FPE panels is that they weren’t always as “safety-approved” as the labels claimed. In fact, in 2002, a class-action lawsuit in New Jersey found that Federal Pacific Electric (and its parent companies) “knowingly and purposefully distributed circuit breakers which were not tested to meet UL standards as indicated on their label.” Professional Learning Institute

Here’s what that means in plain English:

• FPE claimed compliance with Underwriters Laboratories (UL) standards, standards many building codes rely on, on the labels of their breakers/panels.
  
  
• The court found that those labels were often misleading: the breakers had not passed the UL tests as claimed.
  
  
• Because of this, thousands of panels were installed in homes under the presumption that they met UL safety standards, when in many cases, they did not.

Why This Matters:

If a panel's safety label misrepresents testing, that can void many of the protections homeowners expect from their electrical system. Insurance, code compliance, safety inspections, all these rely on the idea that when something says “UL listed,” it has passed certain tests. With FPE, that trust was broken.

Many insurance companies view FPE panels as a significant liability. In some cases, they may refuse to issue or renew a policy until the panel is replaced. Others may exclude electrical fire coverage entirely, leaving homeowners financially exposed if something goes wrong. This makes it not just a safety issue, but a practical one; keeping an FPE panel can directly affect your ability to insure your home.

Manufacturing Issues, Design Flaws, and Limited Parts

FPE panels come with a double challenge: the way they were built and the fact that parts are no longer available. Federal Pacific Electric closed its doors decades ago, which means genuine replacement breakers and components aren’t being produced. What’s still out there is mostly aftermarket, and many of those options don’t meet today’s safety standards.

Add to that the original design flaws, breakers that were manufactured with loose tolerances and sometimes shifted out of alignment inside the panel, and you’ve got a system that’s more likely to overheat instead of protecting your home.

We’ve seen homeowners try to keep these panels going, but between the outdated design and the parts problem, repairs rarely make sense. Upgrading to a modern panel ends up being the safer and more reliable path.

Your Next Steps

FPE panels have earned their reputation for being unsafe, and the three problems we covered, sticking breakers, outdated design, and hard-to-find parts, are why experts consider them a top priority for replacement.

If you’d like to dig deeper into what upgrading actually looks like (and what it costs), check out our Panel Upgrade Cost Calculator. It’s a quick way to see real numbers and understand your options, no guessing, no surprises.

FPE Panel Frequently Asked Questions.

Are FPE panels really that dangerous?

Yes. Multiple studies and safety investigations have shown that FPE breakers fail to trip far more often than modern panels. That failure can lead to overheating and fire hazards.

How can I tell if I have an FPE panel?

Look for the name Federal Pacific Electric or Stab-Lok on the inside of your panel door or on the breakers themselves. If you’re unsure, an electrician can confirm it in seconds.

Can an FPE panel be repaired instead of replaced?

Not effectively. Since parts are no longer made and replacements often don’t meet safety standards, patching repairs usually just delays the inevitable. Most experts recommend replacement.

Do all electricians agree that FPE panels are unsafe?

Pretty much. While some homeowners may not have had issues yet, the data and history on FPE panels are clear. They’ve been linked to fire risks for decades, and the consensus is that replacement is the safest option.