PSE&G: 20,000 Residents Without Power in Bergen, Passaic Counties

A PSE&G spokeswoman said that power is expected to be back to normal by 4 p.m. today for tens of thousands of Bergen and Passaic County residents who lost power this afternoon.

"Approximately 20,000 customers are without power as of 1:30 p.m. today in parts of Bergen and Passaic counties due to an issue with a supply line at a PSE&G substation in Wayne," said PSE&G spokeswoman Deann Muzikar. "The towns affected include Fair Lawn, Haledon, North Haledon, Hawthorne, Wayne, Paterson, Totowa and Passaic. PSE&G personnel are making repairs and anticipate having customers restored by 4 p.m. this afternoon. The cause of the incident is under investigation."

PSE&G had reported that between 1 and 500 customers were without power in Wyckoff at about 1:00 p.m. Tuesday, but most of the town appears to be back online. 

"We do not have a single report of a home or business out of power in Wyckoff," said Police Chief Benjamin Fox just after 3 p.m. on Tuesday. "The township has contacted PSE&G for information on outages in Wyckoff and has yet to receive a reply."

An official with the Township confirmed that no outages were reported to Wyckoff Town Hall. 

Though no major outages were reported to officials, at least some resdients had power cut out very briefly this afternoon. 

Andrew Garlick, a Wyckoff resident who lives near  reported a trio of "intermitent outages" lasting "up to a minute" from 1:30 p.m. to approximately 3:30 p.m. Tuesday   

Fair Lawn has the highest amount of reported outages, with 2,001 - 5,000 customers out, according to the PSEG map. 

It is unclear if a transformer fire at West Church Street and North Prospect Avenue in Bergenfield happened around the same time of the outages, according to an alert issued by borough police.

Are you without power? Email the editor at Joseph.Gerace@patch.com

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

Update, 2:10 p.m.: PSE&G reporting 2,001-5,000 without power in Fair Lawn.
Update, 3:15 p.m.: Added PSE&G spokeswoman's comment, Police Chief Fox's comment.