Monday, December 3, 2012
Regular meeting planned for 7:30 p.m. in Municipal Building
Shrewsbury Borough Council will consider a resolution tonight that calls on JCP&L to make specific changes in communication after it was roundly criticized following superstorm Sandy. The governing body will meet at 7:30 p.m. at the Municipal Building, 419 Sycamore Ave., Shrewsbury. The resolution asks JCP&L to provide municipalities with more information on their power grids, asks for on-site support, advocates for regional, regular conference calls and argues for communication upgrades, among other measures. The draft was developed by Tinton Falls and is being circulated among Monmouth County municipalities. Mayor Michael Skudera has said the resolutions will be sent to the Legislature, Board of Freeholders and the Board of Public …
Thursday, November 22, 2012
At a recent council meeting, borough Administrator Stanley Sickles praised a JCP&L worker for quick action.
As Red Bank's council criticized conglomerate Jersey Central Power and Light at a recent meeting for its failure to communicate following Hurricane Sandy, town Administrator Stanley Sickles took the opportunity to praise the company's front line workers, including one he said helped save the life of a public employee. On Tuesday morning, a Shrewsbury borough employee driving a borough trash truck accidentally backed his truck into overhead power lines. The collision snapped three poles and brought down live wires onto the road and truck, trapping the employee inside. With the driver having already suffered burns and with no way to get him out as electricity could be seen arcing on the ground, Red Bank put in a call to JCP&L, which …
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Red Bank is the first Monmouth County town to sign onto a growing effort to hold the state's major power providers accountable.
Red Bank is joining several municipalities throughout the state in calling for New Jersey's Board of Public Utilities to investigate the state's largest energy utilities for their collective response to Hurricane Sandy aftermath. Borough council, at the behest of Mayor Pat Menna, said it's looking to affect change and move in a positive direction, away from the frustration and animosity built up in the weeks following Sandy's arrival on New Jersey's shore. The resolution approved Tuesday night is mirrored after the one written by South Orange, Essex County Mayor Alex Torpey. It calls for, among other things, a look at how power companies like Jersey Central Power and Light communicate and establishes guidelines for responses to future …
Monday, November 19, 2012
Summit held in Tinton Falls for discussion of utility company's service during and after Hurricane Sandy
Officials from Monmouth County towns gathered at Tinton Falls Borough Hall on Monday afternoon to discuss and critique Jersey Central Power and Light's (JCP&L) service and communication during Hurricane Sandy. Most officials in attendance agreed that JCP&L did not effectively communicate with their towns during the hurricane and that many were left without the information they needed to get out to residents. "It was absolutely poor execution by JCP&L," Marlboro Mayor Jonathan Hornik said. "A little anger and venting is exactly what JCP&L needs to hear," Long Branch Mayor Adam Schneider said. The discussion was hosted by Tinton Falls Mayor Michael Skudera and Middletown Mayor Tony Fiore. "The goal for today is not for this to become a gripe…
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
While many downtown businesses got power back just days after Hurricane Sandy, it took nearly two weeks for all businesses to be restored.
Maybe there was a feeling of excitement at first. Just a couple of days after Hurricane Sandy hit New Jersey and caused serious damage and widespread outages throughout the state, the lights were back on in the businesses directly across the street. Sure, those business on the northern side of Monmouth Street are on the same power grid as Riverview Medical Center, officials said. And, with the grid energized to get the hospital back online as soon as possible, the businesses along the same track were welcomed beneficiaries of the newly surging juice. On a separate grid, business owners on the other side of Monmouth waited patiently for their power to be restored. A few days without power turned into a week without power. As the remainder …
Monday, November 12, 2012
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 …
Sunday, November 11, 2012
After two weeks of outages, most residents without power have gotten it back as of Saturday afternoon.
The day after numerous electrical crews from as far away as Wisconsin were spotted making repairs to downed lines and poles in Red Bank and Shrewsbury, the number of residents without power in both towns has dropped substantially. According to Jersey Central Power and Light's most recent outage map, 567 Red Bank customers remain without power in Red Bank. In Shrewsbury the number of JCP&L customers has fallen to 118. That's a large drop from just a day ago when more than twice that many Red Bank customers were without power and as many as 753 Shrewsbury customers were without power. Hurricane Sandy hit New Jersey directly nearly two weeks ago. Already being recognized as the most destructive storm to ever hit the state, Sandy caused …
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Others have had no power at all for 10 days
Gov. Christie told a gathering on Long Beach Island on Wednesday that the coming Nor'easter and anticipated snowfall would likely cause "a setback" in the work underway for full power restoration. Boy, he wasn't kidding. JCP&L, on its website, is acknowledging that the nor'easter has created new outages, often for customers who were hit with outages in the height of Sandy's destructive path, had power restored and are now in the cold darkness yet again. "Late Wednesday, heavy, wet snow and high winds from the nor'easter resulted in approximately 120,000 additional power outages in the Jersey Central Power & Light service territory," says the JCP&L website. The company serves 13 counties in New Jersey, including Monmouth and Ocean. There …
The borough has released a detailed update on neighborhoods still affected by power outages.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Red Bank Administrator Stanley Sickles said as much as 40 percent of the borough remained without power. Jersey Central Power and Light crews have been working to restore power, though its divided crews have left many neighborhoods untouched since Hurricane Sandy wrecked havoc on the Jersey Shore. The following is a list of Red Bank neighborhoods without power and why, provided by the borough:
Delays, fragmented workforces, and, now, a nor'easter have made getting power back in Red Bank and exercise in frustration.
If Jersey Central Power and Light could send three or four trucks to Red Bank, spend the day here, borough Administrator Stanley Sickles said, it's likely the town could be back at full power, could have been just a day or two after the storm. Unfortunately, that's not how it works. Following Red Bank's Council meeting Wednesday night held during the area's most recent weather misfortune, a nor'easter that dropped as much as five inches of snow on the Greater Red Bank area, Sickles explained his big yellow board. It's a map of the borough, you see, and as lines and poles are repaired and power is reportedly restored to individual neighborhoods they are colored in with a yellow highlighter - yellow for lights, Sickles said, deadpan. …
Sal
4:50 am on Tuesday, December 4, 2012
If the Mayors and Town Councils in ALL towns did more about trimming trees in their towns___so that trees do not fall onto power lines____ we would not be inconvenienced with outages.___Only then will we have a more reliable power supply. Face reality Mr. Mayor___We the People want less outages___not better reporting on outages___overgrown trees cause the outages and JCPL is not at fault for tree… more ›