Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Officials, residents raise concerns at third BPU hearing about utility company's storm response.
Nearly two months after Hurricane Sandy pummeled through the Northeast, the frustration about the communication from state officials and power companies in the storm aftermath is still a major discussion among members of the public. The quality and accuracy of the information flow was the key subject brought up at the Board of Public Utilities third public hearing at Hopatcong Middle School Tuesday night. More than 60 people, including local officials and residents from Morris, Sussex and Passaic counties, attended the meeting where over a dozen people commented and raised concerns to BPU and JCP&L officials about the state's preparedness and response after the storm that left millions across the state without power for days and some for …
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
BPU holds hearing from 4 to 7 p.m. at Hopatcong Middle School.
Nearly two months after Superstorm Sandy, residents will have the chance to tell state officials first-hand their concerns and suggestions for the storm response and what it was like to survive without power for days. The Board of Public Utilities will hold a public hearing on Tuesday at Hopatcong Middle School from 4 to 7 p.m. to hear input from residents all over the region about what the experience in the aftermath of Sandy was like. "We hope that residents are able to give us as much information as they have," said Greg Reinert, a spokesman for BPU. "What their experiences were, what did they experience as far as the outage, whether it was a line down or what information did they get regarding the outage, what information they weren't …
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Recently-released state Board of Public Utilities report charges FirstEnergy affiliate with being more concerned with image during Irene.
JCP&L, since Hurricane Irene in August 2011, has said it has committed a lot of money and resources toward improving not only how the utility communicates with its customers, but also how it runs its business. The state Board of Public Utilities, however, handed down a verdict in a recent report that states the FirstEnergy affiliate first spent more energy trying to save face, according to a NJBIZ.com article. The article notes the BPU report cites JCP&L's initial two Irene press releases from Aug. 28 and Aug. 25, 2011, the latter three days before the storm actually hit New Jersey. JCP&L "gave no indication that restoration could take several days or longer. Advice to customers appeared to have secondary importance," according to the BPU …
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Legislators should act quickly to increase penalties and force better management before next storm.
A month after receiving it, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities finally released last week the long-awaited consultant's report on the power outages that resulted from Tropical Storm Irene and the October 2011 snowstorm. Its 263 pages get into minute details of what happened and provide some important background on issues of statewide concern, including the pros and cons of burying power lines. But its overall message, that power companies did a less than sterling job in dealing with the massive outages that resulted from both storms, and in doing the maintenance work that could have prevented some of the problems, was already well-known. There was no reason why Gov. Chris Christie had to wait for the report, done by Emergency …
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Under governor's proposed legislation, utilities like JCP&L could face up to $25,000 per day in penalties for failing to adhere to their own service and communications plans.
Gov. Chris Christie wants utility companies held accountable for their emergency preparedness. Following the findings of a Board of Public Utilities (BPU) investigation released Wednesday, Christie proposed legislation empowering regulators to levy hefty fines against utilities. The legislation raises potential administrative penalties against companies from $100 to $25,000 per daily assessment. Utility companies would be barred from passing those costs along to ratepayers, Christie said. The bill prioritizes preparedness, according to the governor, requiring utility companies to provide detailed service delivery and communications plans to the BPU. Companies that fail to adequately follow their own plans will face the $25,000 per day …
Friday, March 23, 2012
At the Morris Township Committee Meeting Wednesday, JCP&L and BPU officials presented new plans for stepping up communication, storm response.
JCP&L had a message for Morris Township residents this week: We get why you're frustrated. And we're working on it. The power company and the Board of Public Utilities came to the Morris Township Committee meeting Wednesday to talk about the response to last year's two extraordinary storms — Irene and the October Snowstorm. And talk, several of those attending and involved said, is what needed to be handled better as crews chased down massive outsages that lasted for several days or weeks throughout the state. "There was an incredible frustration at the local level that no information was flowing back about where the crews were and what the estimated time of restoration service was," said BPU President Robert Hanna. The storms presented …
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Report was issued Friday, Feb. 10.
Friday, February 10, 2012
JCP&L: We will complete all the recommendations and make improvements.
The Special Reliability Master hired by the State Board of Public Utilities last fall to look into why so many underground explosions had been plaguing Morristown has returned with a full report, Mayor Tim Dougherty said on Friday afternoon. Dougherty said he planned on going through the report–which he called extensive–over the weekend and would be holding a press conference to go over the report and recommendations in detail Monday afternoon. The BPU voted unanimously in September to request Jersey Central Power & Light appoint a "special master" to investigate the rash of underground explosions that have occurred in Morristown, which culminated in September with a Morris Township resident requiring medical attention when a manover cover…
Roseanne Marie S.
10:42 am on Friday, December 21, 2012
Deborah you are right in saying there are bigger things going on in the world and I do think people have put it behind them. However I do think people are afraid of a repeat of the misinformation that ran rampant after the storm. If we don't learn from our mistakes we are doomed to repeat them. There was an instance of an elderly couple in another town choosing to stay in their home cause they … more ›