Aberdeen Republican Candidates Promise To Take On JCP&L

ABERDEEN, NJ — The four Republican candidates running for Aberdeen town council this year promise to directly confront this area's electric provider, JCP&L, over the frequent power losses and brownouts.

"Recent weekend power outages that follow months and years of increasing blackouts and brownouts have town residents dissatisfied," said the four Republican candidates, Susan McGowan, Michael Olesen, Michael Vail and Carl Zanchelli on July 31.

"Residents need to be able to depend on the electricity coming to their homes or businesses. One would think, in 2023, that wouldn’t be something to have to think about. But unfortunately, we are seeing it go in the wrong direction in Aberdeen. We know upgrades from JCP&L are coming, but we need to be sure our residents start to see an increase in reliable service,” they said.

The Republicans say if they are elected to the Aberdeen town council this fall, they plan to immediately designate a town council representative to speak with JCP&L on residents’ behalf.

They will also spearhead community meetings where residents may speak directly with the power company to voice their concerns.

Gov. Phil Murphy is in the midst of a massive restructuring of New Jersey's power grid to make New Jersey use “100 percent clean energy by 2035." This includes the construction of hundreds of offshore wind turbines. However, on Monday — for the first time ever — Senate President Nicholas Scutari and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, both Democrats, released a statement criticizing the approval of all the wind turbines: Senate President Scutari, Speaker Coughlin Issue Statement Regarding Offshore Wind Developments

No Republican has been elected to the Aberdeen town council in many years. But the Aberdeen Republican Party said they think 2023 is the year they can win.

They called Aberdeen a "politically competitive, northern Monmouth County town," and pointed out that Aberdeen's representatives in Trenton are all Republican.

"We were thrilled to see the statement released by the Senate President and Assembly Speaker in favor of protecting the Jersey Shore and the industries dependent upon it. The sentiments raised by legislative leadership – to protect fisheries, ratepayers, and the tourism industry – are all the points we raised earlier this year when introducing bills to impose a moratorium on wind projects," said state reps O’Scanlon, Flynn and Scharfenberger Tuesday in a joint statement.

"The concerns we raised about the financial viability for these projects just this past June, when we advocated against providing tax credits intended for New Jersey ratepayers to be used by foreign investors for wind projects being developed off the Jersey coast, have now been confirmed as the wind industry is experiencing a financial crisis. It is time to halt these wind turbine projects immediately."

The Aberdeen council election is Nov. 7.

The four Council people who hold those seats have all filed to run for re-election. They are:
Greg Cannon, Arthur Hirsch, Robert Swindle and Connie Kelley. They are all Democrats.

They will be challenged by four Aberdeen residents who are Republican: Susan McGowan, Michael Olesen, Carl Zanchelli and Michael Vail.

4 Democrats, 4 Republicans Run For Aberdeen Council Seats In 2023 (April 2023)