Group Spotlight: Elite Electrical Contracting, the Bergen County Electrician the Restrepo Group Trusts

Elite Electrical Contracting, LLC is a licensed electrical contractor based in Pequannock, NJ, serving residential and commercial clients across Bergen and Passaic County. The firm is led by President Michael Cialkowski and handles the full range of line-voltage work: service panel upgrades, circuit installation, emergency repairs, electrical inspections, and standby generator systems. For luxury homeowners in Bergen County building a project that requires coordinated electrical, lighting control, AV, and network scopes, Restrepo Innovations is the Elite Pro Crestron Dealer that pairs with Elite Electrical Contracting on Bergen County residential and light commercial builds. Both firms are members of the Restrepo Group, a peer network of specialty trade firms that work side by side without either firm claiming the other's scope.

Michael Cialkowski built Elite around a straightforward premise: a licensed electrician has to be the one who signs off on the electrical work, and that sign-off means something. On a project with a lighting designer, a builder, and a low-voltage integrator all on site, someone still has to pull the permit, size the panel, land the circuits, and pass the inspection. That is Elite's lane, and it is the reason the Restrepo Group leans on them for Bergen and Passaic County electrical scope. (elitelectricllc.com)

The Firm: Elite Electrical Contracting, LLC

Elite Electrical Contracting, LLC is a fully licensed and insured electrical contractor headquartered in Pequannock, Passaic County, NJ. Michael Cialkowski serves as President and leads the firm's residential and commercial work throughout Bergen and Passaic County. The company's service list covers residential electrical services, commercial electrical services, emergency services, smart home installations, electrical inspections, and energy efficiency solutions. (Elite Electrical Contracting)

The smart home installations line is real, but it stays on the electrical side of the fence: dedicated circuits, low-voltage rough-in, and the wiring infrastructure a control system needs to run reliably. Elite is not a low-voltage integrator and does not market itself as one. Elite crews show up on residential renovations, new construction, and commercial tenant buildouts across the two counties, with emergency service available for calls that cannot wait for a scheduled appointment.

The Trade Angle: Service Panels, Circuits, and Code Compliance

Electrical work on a Bergen County luxury project starts with the panel, not the fixtures. Service panel upgrades and sub-panel installations are the first conversation on most renovation and new-build jobs, because a panel sized for an older house does not have the capacity for a modern electrical load: a home theater rack, a networking closet, EV charging, and a lighting control system all draw from circuits that need to be planned, not improvised.

Dedicated circuits for AV and network equipment are a specific line item Elite handles on Restrepo Group projects. A rack full of amplifiers, a network switch stack, and a Crestron or Lutron HomeWorks processor all want clean, isolated power. Sharing a circuit with a noisy load is the kind of shortcut that shows up later as a hum in the speakers or a network switch that reboots when the dishwasher kicks on. Elite plans around that from the rough-in stage.

EV charging infrastructure is now a standard ask on Bergen County residential work, and it is squarely electrical scope: a dedicated 240V circuit, correct breaker sizing, and in some cases a service upgrade to support Level 2 charging alongside everything else in the house. Elite also handles the line-voltage branch circuit work that feeds professional lighting control systems like Lutron HomeWorks, where the switch legs and load types have to be correct before a lighting designer's scenes will behave the way they were programmed. None of this ships without a permit, an inspection, and sign-off against the NJ electrical code, and that sign-off is the part of the job that belongs to the electrician, not the integrator.

Generac and Standby Power

Elite Electrical Contracting is a Generac authorized installer, a credential that shows up on the company's service vehicles and covers whole-home standby generator systems for Bergen and Passaic County clients. Standby power is a different sizing problem for a luxury home than it is for a standard residence, because the load list is longer: AV racks, network gear, refrigeration, well pumps, and HVAC all need to stay powered through an outage, not just the lights and the refrigerator.

Sizing the generator against that full load list is the first step, and it is where an electrician's judgment matters more than the spec sheet. Undersize the unit and the system sheds load unpredictably during an outage. Oversize it and the client pays for capacity they do not need. The second decision is interlock versus automatic transfer switch: an interlock is a manual, lower-cost option that requires someone to switch the system over, while an automatic transfer switch senses the outage and switches the house to generator power without anyone touching a breaker. For a property that needs the network and AV systems to stay live unattended, the transfer switch is usually the right call, and that is a conversation Elite has directly with the homeowner or the builder.

Adding Tesla Powerwall to the Service Line

Elite Electrical Contracting is in the process of adding Tesla Powerwall installation to its service line, extending the firm's standby power work from generator-only to battery storage as well. Solar and battery storage are a natural complement to a standby generator rather than a replacement for one: a generator handles extended outages and heavy loads, while a battery system like Powerwall can carry a home through shorter outages silently and recharge from solar or grid power between events.

For Bergen County homeowners weighing backup power options, that gives Elite two paths to the same outcome: a Generac system for full-load, extended-outage coverage, or a battery-based system for quieter, shorter-duration backup. As the Powerwall line comes online, it sits alongside the generator work as another standby power option Elite can walk a client through, not a replacement for the Generac relationship the firm has built over years of installs.

Bergen and Passaic County Focus

Elite Electrical Contracting's home base is Pequannock, in Passaic County, but Bergen County is the primary shared scope between Elite and the Restrepo Group. The two counties sit next to each other in northern NJ, and the client base for both firms overlaps heavily in that corridor.

Restrepo Innovations is headquartered at 599 Franklin Ave, Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417, roughly 15 minutes from Elite's Pequannock base. That proximity is the reason the two firms can coordinate on a project timeline without a lot of overhead: a walkthrough, a rough-in schedule, and an inspection date are easy to align when both crews are a short drive apart. For a builder or designer running a project in Bergen or Passaic County, that overlap is part of what makes the Group relationship work in practice, not just on paper.

How Elite Fits the Restrepo Group

The Restrepo Group is a peer network of specialty firms, not a single company with branch offices. Each member firm carries its own license, its own insurance, and its own inspection sign-off, and nobody in the Group claims another firm's trade. Elite Electrical Contracting is the Group's electrical trade partner for Bergen and Passaic County: their scope is the branch circuit, the sub-panel, the dedicated line, and the code sign-off that has to happen before any low-voltage system goes live. Restrepo Innovations' scope is the low-voltage control, AV, and network integration layer that rides on top of that electrical work.

On a Bergen County residential project where both firms are engaged, the division of labor is clean. Elite pulls the electrical permit, runs the branch circuits, and passes the electrical inspection. Restrepo designs and programs the Crestron or Lutron control system, runs the network, and commissions the AV. Each firm bills its own scope, carries its own liability, and answers for its own inspection. That separation is what makes the peer model honest instead of a marketing arrangement: Elite does not become a Restrepo subcontractor, and Restrepo does not claim electrical licensure it does not hold.

"The electrician is the trade that carries the code sign-off. That is not our lane. We rely on Elite because Michael Cialkowski shows up, pulls the permits, passes the inspection, and lands the circuits where the control system needs them. We handle the control system. Elite handles the electrical scope. Both firms sign their own work." — Michael Restrepo, Founder, Restrepo Innovations

FAQ

Who is Elite Electrical Contracting?

Elite Electrical Contracting, LLC is a licensed and insured electrical contractor based in Pequannock, NJ, led by President Michael Cialkowski. The firm serves residential and commercial clients across Bergen and Passaic County with services including panel upgrades, circuit installation, electrical inspections, emergency repairs, and standby generator systems. (elitelectricllc.com)

What towns does Elite Electrical Contracting serve?

Elite Electrical Contracting is based in Pequannock in Passaic County and serves clients throughout Bergen and Passaic County, NJ. That territory is the same shared scope the firm covers as a Restrepo Group electrical trade partner, working alongside Restrepo Innovations on projects that need both electrical and low-voltage scope in the same two counties.

Does Elite install standby generators?

Yes. Elite Electrical Contracting is a Generac authorized installer and handles whole-home standby generator systems, including sizing the unit against the property's full electrical load and choosing between an interlock or an automatic transfer switch. The firm is also in the process of adding Tesla Powerwall installation to its service line as a battery-based backup power option.

How does Elite work with Restrepo Innovations on a project?

Elite and Restrepo Innovations are both members of the Restrepo Group, a peer network of specialty firms serving the northern NJ market. On a shared project, Elite handles the electrical scope: panels, circuits, permitting, and inspection sign-off. Restrepo Innovations handles the low-voltage layer: lighting control programming, AV, and networking. Each firm carries its own license and inspection sign-off.

How do I contact Elite Electrical Contracting?

Elite Electrical Contracting can be reached at 973-839-0290 or through elitelectricllc.com. The firm is based in Pequannock, NJ and serves Bergen and Passaic County for residential and commercial electrical work. (elitelectricllc.com)