Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ4) wrote to Board of Public Utilities (BPU) President Joseph Fiordalsio on Monday asking that the agency step-up its oversight of the beleaguered electric utility in the wake of its horrible communications and failure to restore power to its customers in a reasonable time frame following Tropical Storm Isiasis.
For those who didn’t lose power, or see the fury of Monday night’s storm, be thankful. Your lives went on like a normal summer day with a thunderstorm in the background. For those who were in the micro-bursts…it was the scariest thing many have seen since Sandy..and more than many of us have ever seen. It lasted 20 minutes through the area…but left more immediate wind devastation than Sandy. Sandy spent hours piling water into our Bayshore and bays and oceanfront. This unnamed…moment…tore down trees and utility poles and the wires near, or attached to, them. And it was block-by-block, neighborhood by neighborhood. Which made it even harder on those without power. Many neighbors had no inconvenience at all. I can say now, it was a miracle no one was seriously injured or killed. For those that didn’t see it, trust me, this isn’t hyperbole.
In the end over 200,000 people had no power. Trees were down. JCP&L on the scramble, tested again. By Thursday night, all but just over 200 customers in Monmouth County had their power restored.
Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden announced that free ice and water is available for the 98,974 JCP&L customers still without power at 10 a.m. this morning.
The locations distributing water and ice are listing below the fold
Photo via Howell Police Department’s facebook page
39% of Monmouth County’s JCP&L customers remain without power this morning in the aftermath of the summer storm that blew through Central Jersey last night. Read the rest of this entry »
JCP&L announced that they are providing free water and ice to their customers who are without power due to weather conditions at the following Shop Rite stores in Monmouth County:
RAGE leaders, in Trenton, celebrate the BPU’s decision to nix JCPL’s Monmouth Monster Power Line Project
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities unanimously denied Jersey Central Power and Light’s ‘Monmouth Reliability Project,’ according to Hazlet Deputy Mayor Sue Kiley who is in Trenton for the BPU meeting.
“This is a great victory for all of the grassroots activists of RAGE (Residents Against Giant Electric), and all of the government officials who fought together through a complex and arduous legal process to produce the right result for Monmouth County residents who live along NJ Transit’s North Jersey Coast Line,” Kiley said. Read the rest of this entry »
An administrative law judge yesterday rejected a $111 million, 10-mile, high-voltage line by Jersey Central Power & Light in Monmouth County, handing residents a rare victory in what is usually a losing battle: opposing transmission projects. In stinging language, the judge, Gail Cookson, rebuked the utility for failing to demonstrate the project is needed, for not… Read the rest of this entry »
On March 29th, thousands of residents and local elected officials from Monmouth County will converge upon the Collins Arena at Brookdale to speak against the proposed Monmouth County Reliability Project as proposed by First Energy and its subsidiary JCP&L. This additional hearing called for by Office of Administrative Law Judge Gail Cookson, follows a meeting held on January 25th at Middletown High School North where thousands attended and many were turned away. As an elected official in Middletown who will not have the opportunity to speak at this meeting per the Judge’s request, I will not remain silent with the question I would have asked Judge Cookson: What’s the point of this hearing?
Scammers are once again targeting Monmouth County small businesses by posing as representatives of JCP&L and threatening to shut off their power unless immediate payment is made via a pre-paid debit card, Green Dot card, MoneyPak card or gift card, announced Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.
Recent targets have included a salon, gym and and deli. The scam follows a line of fear and intimidation: you are advised you are past due on a bill, you are threatened with having your power shut-off, and you are given the opportunity to “pay” your bill within a brief period of time to avoid any embarrassment or work stoppages.