Representatives of Jersey Central Power & Light appeared before the Hopewell Township Committee Monday night to address lengthy power outages that left hundreds of Hopewell Valley residents without electricity following severe storms over the July 4 weekend.
On July 5, 253 local households were without power, and by July 7, service still had not been restored to 101 of them. Combined with temperatures topping 100 degrees that weekend, Mayor David Chait called the situation “a real health and safety emergency.”
The utility representatives appeared at the request of the Township Committee. They provided little new information about what caused some outages to last for several days, pointing largely to the extent of storm damage across the state.
During the discussion, Committee member Michael Ruger pressed the representatives about the utility’s response to residents. A JCP&L representative apologized on behalf of the company.
The utility also outlined work underway that it says will improve reliability in the Township.
JCP&L is upgrading the circuit associated with the Moore Substation to provide a second, redundant source of power. The change is intended to allow service to be maintained if power is disrupted on the other circuit. The work is expected to be completed by the end of October.
The company is also making smaller upgrades to two other substations serving portions of the Township.
Chait asked JCP&L to provide the Township with a follow-up report detailing which of the 1,251 Hopewell Valley residences served by the utility will be covered by the new Moore Substation loop system. He also asked the company to identify where the 273 homes that experienced the longest outages fall within the system.
The discussion followed a July 7 letter from the Township asking the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to review JCP&L’s performance in responding to the outages.
Chait said the BPU has since advanced enforcement proceedings against JCP&L related to reliability requirements established under a previous Order to Show Cause. He said the agency has also opened a public docket to receive comments from municipalities, mayors and residents.
“The Township will participate in all BPU processes,” Chait said. “Most importantly, we will be monitoring all upgrades, their completion, and their impacts on our residents.”
No members of the public commented on the JCP&L presentation during the meeting.
