JCP&L: System Improvements to be Done by End of Year

Jersey Central Power and Light is working toward completing all of the recommendations in Morristown made by appointed by the state Board of Public Utilities by the end of the year.

That from JCP&L President Donald Lynch during a press conference held Tuesday in Mayor Tim Dougherty's office, scheduled following  to address the ongoing underground electrical system issues in the county capital.

"We have worked along with him and the BPU staff, and we'll continue to work with them," said Lynch, who was joined by the mayor for the press conference. "We have a lot of work to do here in Morristown."

The report, requested by the town–along with Sen. Anthony Bucco Sr. and Assemblyman Anthony Bucco Jr.–, presented a laundry list of work recommended for the utility company, including the placement of safety mechanisms on manhole covers to prevent them from flying off in the event of an explosion. Lynch noted during the press conference that much of what was recommended in the report already was being done by JCP&L, and that a Pilot program was being looked into, which would place up to 12 safety mechanisms at to-be-selected manhole covers in Morristown.

"This is an industry issue no one has solved yet," Lynch said. "As soon as we can get information, we'll be doing that as soon as possible."

In total, Lynch said JCP&L has committed $200 million in upgrades so far to its entire system, serving 240 municipalities, with an additional $200 million expected to be committed over the next several years.

"We are still working together in dealing with the issues we have experiences with our underground network," Dougherty said. "We want to make sure the public feels safe and knows its utility company is doing everything it can. I feel confident JCP&L has stepped up and is taking this seriously."

That said, the mayor said certain issues, including , still needed to be addressed.

"I think the public has a right to know [what happened]," Dougherty said. "No one is pointing a finger at anyone until we know the facts. We hope certain parties take heed. We're not going to forget what happened at the library ... To this day, we still don't know what took place."

An investigation into the library explosion continues to be conducted by Travellers Insurance. "We've worked with all the investigators," Lynch said.

Dougherty also said not every power issue in recent history in Morristown has been related to its underground network, citing the one-two punch of and , the latter of which caused many to be without power for about a week.

"We all have to be conscious of what took place," Dougherty said. "A lot of issues happened outside of the underground network.

"We see the [repair] trucks around town now constantly," the mayor continued. "When we have an issue, people are still heightened. No one expected a hurricane and a nor'easter. We took a heavy hit here in Morristown."

Lynch said the Ridgedale Avenue substation, , is now fully-operational, and cited damming debris from the Whippany River as the primary cause of the substation going underwater. "A 100-year flood wall is in place there. If we keep that from damming up, we'll be fine," he said.

Moving forward, Dougherty said the "special reliability master" recommendations, once implemented, will only improve Morristown's electrical system.

"Together, we're going to do what we need to do," Lynch said.