Burlington County Calls For Investigation Over Power Restoration

BURLINGTON COUNTY, NJ — Burlington County Freeholder Director Felicia Hopson is calling on New Jersey regulators to put a freeze on all rate adjustments until an investigation is completed into reoccurring outages and repeated restoration delays following Tropical Storm Isaias, officials announced on Wednesday.

“Everyone in Burlington County is thankful that we made it through Tuesday’s storm without any loss of life or serious injuries, but once again we’re now faced with a situation where thousands of our residents are without electricity, with the possibility that some will have to wait days before it is restored,” Hopson said. “This is not the first time we’ve seen this scenario. It’s become far too commonplace, and we need a thorough review and assessment of how utility companies respond to major storms, as well as the actions they take to prepare for them and harden their infrastructure.”

Burlington County was hit hard by the storm, and more than 40,000 residents countywide remained without power Wednesday afternoon, according to the PSE&G outage map. The estimated restoration time for most of the county is 10:01 a.m. on Aug. 12.

They are among the more than 937,000 residents statewide who were still without power statewide the morning after Tropical Storm Isaias tore through the state, bringing down thousands of trees and power lines. Read more here: 937K In NJ Still Without Power As Isaias Cleanup Continues

There were nearly 10,000 customers in Willingboro without power Wednesday morning. Pemberton was also hit hard with nearly 8,000 outages and there were another 5,000 in Medford.

These areas have previously faced long waits for power restoration after major storms, Hopson said. Several long-term care facilities are still awaiting restoration, as well.

“Some 86,000 homes and businesses were in the dark on Tuesday right after the storm,” Hopson said. “That’s close to the same number that were out here in 2012 when Superstorm Sandy hit. Something is not right when that’s the case, and we deserve answers from the BPU and our utilities.”

During a news conference on Wednesday, Board of Public Utilities President Joe Fiordaliso said the delays statewide were due in part to the need for roads to be cleared of downed trees, wires and debris before power restoration could begin.

Hopson said the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities should thoroughly investigate utilities’ storm preparation and response, both to Isaias and other major storms, and release its findings within 90 days.

The director also called for the board to order a halt to any rate adjustments pending the completion of the investigation and any remediation efforts the probe identifies. The freeze should also extend to any costs passed onto customers for infrastructure upgrades.

“Burlington County homeowners and businesses should not have to pay more just to ensure they receive reliable electricity service,” Hopson said. “Likewise, they shouldn’t have to wait for days for their power to be restored because their utility hasn’t taken the steps necessary to harden their infrastructure and identify and remediate potential problem spots.”