Four days in the dark — thousands of NJ homes may finally get relief Tuesday
⚡Most remaining JCP&L customers should have power restored by Tuesday night
⚡Pressure is growing on Gov. Mikie Sherrill over the state response
⚡NJ Transit service was restored on Tuesday
Tuesday could be a good day for hundreds of utility customers who have been without power for four days as impatience from customers, community leaders and legislators at utilities grows.
More than 26,000 JCP&L and PSE&G customers are awaiting restoration as of 2 p.m. JCP&L spokesman Chris Hoenig had some good news about when his utility's customers will get their power back.
"The vast majority of customers will see their lights back on today. There will be some that extend into tomorrow, but again most of those remaining ones, they should have their lights back on tomorrow," Hoenig told New Jersey 101.5.
PSE&G said it is nearing completion of its restoration efforts but did not offer a specifc date. The utility said that it restored power to 300,000 customers since July 1.
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The smallest of repairs
Hoenig said that restoration is getting down to the smallest of repairs such as a home that lost its connection completely or a blown transformer that serves five homes. There's also also still many broken utility poles to replace. Monday's heavy rain also helped to further weaken trees and provide the final push into wires
"There were more broken poles in northern New Jersey than in central. Not a huge surprise there. Northern New Jersey, the most densely forested portion of our service territory, and up in the mountains there, you have more ash trees which have been affected by Emerald Ash Borer," Hoenig said.
- JCP&L: 20,131 customers were still without power, especially in Hunterdon, Monmouth, Morris, Sussex, Union and Warren counties
- PSE&G: 3,435 customers were still without power, mostly in Bergen, Essex and Union counties.
Sherrill faces criticism as lawmakers push for stronger response
Gov. Mikie Sherrill defended her administration's response and said she has met daily with mayors and utilities, transit officials and emergency responders " to ensure a closely coordinated response."
"The New Jersey Office of Emergency Management continues to be activated and assisting communities across the state with severe weather conditions, including those impacted by Monday’s substantial flooding," Sherrill wrote on her X account. "I’m grateful to the first responders and public servants who have been working around the clock to keep people safe.Our communities have been hit hard, and we will continue to help them recover."
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'Dereliction of duty'
Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia, R-Morris, continues to be the governor's biggest critic in pushing for a state of emergency declaration and accused Sherrill of a “dereliction of duty” by not doing so. In a call with the governor's staff with several mayors and members of county government she said the reasoning by Sherrill's staff was "preposterous."
The Republican pointed to the state's definition of a disaster as an "unsusal incident resulting from natural or unnatural causes which endangers the health, safety or resources of residents" as reason enough for the declaration.
Good news from NJ Transit
Assemblyman Alex Sauickie, R-Ocean, called for a “public reliability hearing” by the BPU about the response in light of the high rates paid by customers.
"Before forcing families to pay more for new experimental energy mandates, the governor and the BPU should prove they can keep the lights on,” Sauickie said.
NJ Transit had good news for its riders impacted by the storm. The Gladstone branch fully reopened for service on Tuesday while the Morris & Essex and Montclair-Boonton lines ran on a modified weekday schedule.
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Damage from Severe Thunderstorms of Friday, July 3
Gallery Credit: Dan Alexander
