Hurricane Sandy

Despite Gov's Assurance, Thousands Still in the Dark

Christie said all power in NJ would be restored by now

  Despite assurances by Gov. Christie that the entire state would have power again by yesterday, there are thousands still in the dark in New Jersey, including 601 in just Monmouth and Ocean counties, according to the JCP&L outage map. As of 3:15 p.m. Monday, there are 441 outages in Monmouth and 160 in Ocean and about 3,100 outages among JCP&L customers in the 13 counties it serves, the map shows. In Morris County alone there are 739 JCP&L customers reporting outages. PSE&G has 278 outages on Monday afternoon, including 19 outages caused by Sandy and 259 caused by the nor'easter. Atlantic Electric has restored power to all customers who can safely be restored, said Frank Tedesco, company spokesman. He said there are 2,000 to 2,500 …

•  59 Comments
• Photos (1)

Hurricane Sandy

JCP&L to Continue Working on Outages "As Safety Permits"

Still 74,012 in the dark in Ocean and Monmouth counties

There are currently 28,176 JCP&L customers without power in Ocean County and 45,836 without power in Monmouth County, according to an update on the JCP&L website. Those numbers change constantly as crews continue to work on outages throughout the region. However, the nor'easter starting to move into the area may cause new outages as well as coastal flooding, according to the National Weather Service. JCP&L, in a prepared statement, says: "Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) has restored power to more than 900,000 of the 1.2 million JCP&L customers affected by Hurricane Sandy, marking five consecutive days where crews have restored at least 100,000 customers per day. While restoration continues, JCP&L is preparing for a Nor'easter that is …

•  84 Comments
• Photos (2)
• Documents (1)

Hurricane Sandy

UPDATE: Nearly 247,000 Without Power in Ocean and Monmouth

Outages to increase as Sandy barrels towards the Shore

Update, 6 p.m.: Outages have reached 126,739 in Ocean County and 120,000 in Monmouth County. --- There are nearly 24,000 reported power outages in Monmouth and Ocean counties as of early Monday afternoon, according to a Jersey Central Power & Light map. As of early Monday afternoon, there were 23,559 outages reported in Monmouth and Ocean. However, there was no way to immediately learn if some without power have not reported it yet because they may have no means of communication without electricity. But according to the information available, the highest number of outages in one town in the two counties was Middletown, with 6,869. Another town with a high number of reported outages was Berkeley in southern Ocean County with 1,848. …

•  27 Comments
• Photos (1)

Hurricane Sandy

JCP&L Warns Power Could Be Out For 10 Days

Utility company says its hiring extra contractors, urges residents to be prepared

Residents should be prepared for power outages of up to 10 days from the anticipated impact of Hurricane Sandy, according to a release from the parent company of JCP&L. FirstEnergy Corp, which owns the local utility company along with several others on the East Coast, said in a release that the oncoming storm could wreak havoc with the electrical system and residents should be prepared to be without power for more than a week. The company is securing outside utility crews, electrical contractor and tree trimmers to assist a beefed up response crew and support workers to help restore power as soon as possible throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland, according to the release. “Depending on the severity of the storm's impact on the …

•  69 Comments
• Photos (1)

Hurricane Sandy

HURRICANE SANDY: JCP&L Says it Learned From Its Mistakes

Stresses storm may knock out power for 7-10 days

  Jersey Central Power and Light (JCP&L) President Don Lynch says the company has learned from the mistakes it made from Hurricane Irene and is ready for Hurricane Sandy and the threat it poses to the state. The company took heat when Hurricane Irene left many New Jersey towns without power for days - and, in some cases, weeks. Many thought JCP&L's response was too slow. The biggest lesson learned is getting the information out to customers and municipalities as specifically, quickly and often as possible, Lynch said. The company wants its customers to know as much information as possible, he said. "Just know that Jersey Central will be working hard day and night - we've already started, should that storm hit shore here and cause outages …

•  40 Comments
• Photos (3)

UPDATED: Christie: Most in Atlantic County Will Have Power By The End of July 4th

Depending on if another storm hits the region tonight.

  Most of the 106,000 Atlantic County residents who remain without power at this hour should see their power restored by the end of the day on the Fourth of July, Governor Chris Christie said following a meeting with high ranking county and state officials Saturday afternoon at the Anthony "Tony" Canale Training Center in Egg Harbor Township. "There are some stragglers, and by that I mean a couple thousand people, who may not see service restored until the end of the week," Christie said. "And that depends on if another storm comes tonight." According to Atlantic City Electric officials, 40 major lines were knocked out of service, and 26 have been repaired as of 7 p.m. Saturday night. They've called upon crews from other utilities from the…

• Photos (1)

One More Time - Freeholders Demand Seat on BPU

Democratic freeholder candidate says resolution useless, since there are no BPU vacanciess

Republicans and Democrats disagree on whether Ocean County would be better served by its utility companies if someone who lives in the county was appointed to the state Board of Public Utilities. “There’s no point to doing this. It’s political,’’ said Democrat Michele Rosen, who is running for a seat on the freeholder board. The all-Republican Board of Freeholders voted unanimously, again, to ask the governor to name a county resident to the board that regulates utilities. Similar resolutions passed over the last eight years have produced no results. Rosen said there is no vacancy on the BPU and the freeholders are free to attend any of that agency’s meetings and make their pleas for action. Freeholder Director Joseph H. Vicari pointed to …

•  3 Comments
• Photos (1)

Hurricane Irene

Vicari Asks for Probe of JCP&L Hurricane Response

87,000 county residents were without power during storm

Jersey Central Power and Light Company managers flunked Hurricane Irene’s preparedness test, according to Ocean County Freeholder Director Joseph H. Vicari, who is urging the state Board of Public Utilities to “review JCP&L’s planning procedures for this storm.’’ He said that 87,000 county residents lost power during the storm, some of them for as long as a week, suffering the loss of perishable food. He challenged the utility to have a representative attend a meeting of the county government to discuss the response to the storm. Vicari continued to insist that a regional representative hung up on a conference call from him and county Administrator Carl W. Block seeking information about power outages. No one from the utility has called …

•  1 Comment
• Photos (1)

Hurricane Irene

More Than 33K Without Power in Ocean

Widespread outages still exist in Brick, Forked River, Toms River, Point Boro

Toms River, Brick, Forked River and Point Pleasant Borough remain among the communities in Ocean County still suffering from widespread power outages. Jersey Central Power and Light was reporting an estimated 33,212 customers without power as of 11:50 a.m. Tuesday, with more than 20,000 centered in the aforementioned municipalities. While outages are affecting a wide swath of the county, many municipalities are largely back online three days after Hurricane Irene downed trees, power lines and sparked flooding throughout the region. For example, the utility is reporting seven customers offline in Barnegat, and 22 in Bay Head, while other municipalities have several hundred customers still in the dark.   JCP&L said crews are "working around …

•  54 Comments
• Photos (1)