MORRISTOWN, N.J., May 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Service has
been restored to more than 65,000 Jersey Central Power & Light
(JCP&L) customers who lost power following the damaging
thunderstorms that produced wind gusts approaching 70 mph as it
blew across the Mid-Atlantic region late yesterday.
Currently, approximately 38,000 customers remain out of service,
mostly in the hardest hit areas of Morris, Passaic, Sussex, and Warren counties. JCP&L expects the
vast majority of the remaining customers to be restored to service
by late Thursday, with many people in the affected areas getting
their power back on sooner. Those customers experiencing more
severe damage will be restored Friday.
The restoration effort includes about 1,400 JCP&L linemen,
electrical contractors, FirstEnergy utility personnel, damage
assessors, hazard responders, forestry supervisors, and dispatchers
that are on the ground or en route. Crews are addressing
safety hazards and road closures while making progress restoring
customers.
"JCP&L personnel and contractors are prepared to work around
the clock to restore customers who lost power following the
damaging thunderstorms that impacted northern New Jersey late yesterday," said Jim Fakult, president of JCP&L. "The
severe winds resulted in significant tree-related damage to our
system, including broken poles and downed wires that will need to
be replaced. Our restoration times reflect this wide-spread
damage and also the hundreds of single outages that will require
crews to travel to each individual location to make repairs."
As part of its storm restoration process, JCP&L has taken
the following steps:
- Ramped up storm updates on social media and on the company
website. Follow JCP&L on Twitter @JCP_L, on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/JCPandL or online at www.jcp-l.com
- Activated its Emergency Command Center
- Ramped up its Incident Command System
- Communicated with emergency management officials, state
officials, regulators, and local officials about storm restoration
efforts
- Staffed additional dispatchers and analysts at regional
dispatch offices
After local power lines are repaired and put back in service,
damage to individual customer service wires may become
apparent. Customers are reminded that if their neighbor's
power is on and theirs is not, the problem may be isolated to their
individual service, and service to the neighbor could be fed from a
different circuit. Customers are encouraged to report such
problems, even at this latter stage in the restoration process.
JCP&L reminds customers to immediately report downed wires
to their utility at 888-LIGHTSS (888-544-4877), or to their local
police or fire department. Customers should never go near a
downed wire even if they think it is no longer carrying
electricity. Extra caution should be used in areas where
downed lines are tangled in trees or other debris.
JCP&L is a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE).
JCP&L serves 1.1 million New
Jersey customers in the counties of Burlington, Essex, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union
and Warren. Follow JCP&L
on Twitter @JCP_L, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/JCPandL or
online at www.jcp-l.com.
FirstEnergy is dedicated to safety, reliability and operational
excellence. Its 10 electric distribution companies form one
of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems, serving
customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New
Jersey, West Virginia,
Maryland and New York. The
company's transmission subsidiaries operate more than 24,000 miles
of transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic
regions. Follow FirstEnergy on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp or online
at www.firstenergycorp.com.
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SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.