My Comments submitted to the BPU, during their Public Hearing on Hurricane Irene - September 26, 2011.

My Comments submitted to the BPU, during their Public Hearing on Hurricane Irene - September 26, 2011.

Kristi Izzo, Secretary of the Board

Board of Public Utilities

P.O. Box 350

Trenton, NJ 08625-0350

My name is Carmen Amato, I am a Councilman from Berkeley Township in Ocean

County. Thank you for the opportunity to provide written comments about Jersey

Central Power and Light’s response to Hurricane Irene.

While I have no doubt that JCP&L’s ground crews did all they could to muster a

response to the storm and should be commended for their efforts, there can be

no denying that JCP&L’s management team let its customers down.

Response time to resident complaints was abysmal, the automated phone system

was frustratingly ineffective, and proactive communication in the days after the

storm passed was virtually non-existent. The impact of these failures was felt

most acutely in Berkeley Township, where many of my constituents are senior

citizens and young families.

Many of these residents are struggling financially, yet had to watch hundreds of

dollars in food items spoil in their refrigerators while power remained out for

several days. I realize that this was a natural disaster and we certainly can’t control

nature. However, we can control how prepared we are to respond to it. The fact

that JCP&L knew this event was imminent well in advance and still fell short in

preparation is inexcusable. In the days after the storm, I urged JCP&L to

reimburse every affected homeowner’s with a $150 rebate to help soften the

financial hardship resulting from the company’s inept response to the storm. I am

repeating that request today and am hopeful it will be heeded. While it would

certainly impact JCP&L’s profit margin in the near-term, it would go a long way

 towards repairing their image in the long-term. Thank you.

Respectfully Submitted:

Carmen F. Amato, Jr.

Council Vice President