'Let's Face Facts, JCP&L Is Terrible': Warren Mayor Says

WARREN, NJ — Warren officials have had enough with power outages caused by storms in the township.

Mayor Michael "Mick" Marion and Deputy Mayor George Lazo held a meeting on Sept. 1 discussing their plan to hold power companies, such as JCP&L, accountable for their response during Tropical Storm Isaias. During the storm on Aug. 4, more than 4,000 PSE&G and JCP&L residents were left without power for 5 days or more.

"The facts remain that for 5 days people in Warren were without power. That is totally unacceptable," Marion said. "Let's face facts, JCP&L is terrible. They need to improve and we are going to keep them accountable."

JCP&L Spokesman Clifford Cole noted that Tropical Storm Isaias caused far more significant damage to JCP&L's electrical infrastructure than recent major weather events, including Winter Storms Riley and Quinn in 2018.

Isaias affected almost 800,000 customers mostly due to large trees falling against equipment, bringing down power lines and utility poles, and hundreds of road closures, Cole said.

"JCP&L secured, 8,000 utility workers from both JCP&L and from 17 outside states to around the clock to safely restore power as safely and quickly as possible to all affected customers," Cole said.

After Hurricane Sandy, Lazo said he created the Utility Advisory Committee which helped JCP&L correct their tree pruning process and address substation issues.

Now Lazo said JCP&L needs to replace its dated equipment. The township committee has asked JCP&L for a 20-page report assessing the damage and response from storm Isaias.

"JCP&L did not receive a formal request for an assessment report but is working with Warren Township and other municipalities in its service territory in scheduling post-storm sessions with the county of emergency management offices to discuss what went well in the recovery process and where enhancements can potentially be made. JCP&L looks forward to continued dialogue with our constituents," said JCP&L Spokesman Clifford Cole said.

Since 2016, JCP&L also noted it has made $1 billion in capital improvement projects to its system.

"JCP&L is also in the process of completing its Reliability Plus Program, which builds on service reliability enhancements made by JCP&L in recent years with an additional $97 million in targeted investments aimed at addressing tree damage to the distribution system caused by severe weather events and reducing the frequency and duration of power outages. The work is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year," Cole said.

Lazo and Marion said they are prepared to attend the Board of Public Utilities meetings and encourage residents to do the same once they are scheduled to share their frustrations.

"We can not be on the back end of every type of storm so when a little breeze comes through we lose power," Marion said. "It's totally unacceptable."

Marion said the administration has been very vocal about the lack of service township residents have been receiving.

"Quite simply put folks in Warren are at the back end of the power business," Marion said. "We are the first to go out and last ones to come back on."

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