No Ice, Cold Showers, Takeout-Weary: NJ Power Outages Fray Nerves

NEW JERSEY — For most of the 1.4 million customers who lost power due to Tropical Storm Isaias, the lights and air conditioning are back on. But for the more than 15,000 who still lacked electric service as of Sunday evening, patience is gone.

"We call JCP&L every day almost every few hours and (get) the same answer, August 11," said Michael Lyons, who lives in Montville, in Morris County. He can't use a generator because he lives on the second floor, and like so many others has had to throw out everything in his refrigerator.

"We cannot find ice anywhere anymore to keep this cold," Lyons said. "I have spent so much money on batteries to have portable lights in our place. We are taking ice cold showers. Spending hundreds of dollars a day on takeout food. We are literally getting sick with heat exhaustion."

"We are in America, not some far uncharted island you need to reach by weeks of travel," he said, noting he lives on the main streets in Montville. "Businesses are suffering here because of the pandemic, now the power companies are getting to us when they feel like it. It is completely inhumane."

Morris County was one of the hardest-hit by Isaias, which was packing sustained winds of 50 mph and gusts of 75 mph as it ripped through New Jersey on Tuesday. It still had more than 2,100 homes without service as of Sunday evening.

Also hard-hit — and slowest to be restored — were customers in Monmouth County, which still had more than 2,600 without service, down from more than 152,000 at the peak. Bergen County, which had been slow to be restored, had 1,400 still without electricity.

Essex County, which had fewer outages in the initial aftermath, has the highest number of customers still waiting to be reconnected, with nearly 3,000.

"I am on day five and counting with a broken wire hanging from a JCP&L pole," said Donna Roberts, who lives in the Pine Lake Park section of Manchester in Ocean County, which had more than 88,000 outages at the peak. "I am desperate for help. We have reached out to the power company daily to no avail."

Officials with Jersey Central Power & Light and PSE&G both said their crews are working around the clock to restore service. JCP&L was reporting 8,537 customers still out as of 7 p.m. Sunday. PSE&G had 5,796, Orange and Rockland had 929 and Atlantic City Electric had 244.

"We have made great progress in restoring customers, and understand that is of little comfort to those still without air conditioning, lights and charged cell phones," PSE&G officials said in a statement on the company's website.

"At this stage in the restoration effort, our crews are addressing many localized issues and restoring individual customers," JCP&L officials said in a statement released Sunday. "This is the most time-consuming, labor intensive and complex part of service restoration."

Both companies said they have supplemented their New Jersey personnel with out-of-state crews. JCP&L said it now has 9,000 workers spread out over its coverage area working to make repairs.

PSE&G's statement said its restoration estimates were "based on a number of factors including damage assessment, road conditions and prioritizing circuits serving the largest number of impacted customers."

What they find at each repair site can alter timeframes. "Sometimes more than one repair is needed to restore a customer’s service," PSE&G said.

JCP&L said sometimes people find themselves still in the dark, even after all the homes in the neighborhood have been restored.

"If your neighbor's power is on and yours is not, the problem may be isolated to your individual service," JCP&L said.

Residents should report their outages until they are repaired.

Any downed lines should continue to be reported and treated as dangerous.

JCP&L said it has replaced more than 200,000 feet of wire, repaired or replaced more than 500 poles and 2,200 crossarms, and worked through more than 700 closed roads to repair service.

"Based on current outages and damage assessments, we are projecting that some of the these more difficult restorations in the Central Region are expected to be restored by Monday, August 10 at 11:30 p.m., and in the Northern Region to be restored by Tuesday, August 11 at 11:30 p.m.," the company said.

JCP&L also released restoration updates by county. Outage counts were from earlier Sunday:

• Middlesex County: Fewer than 10 customers remain without power. The majority of customers are expected to be restored by 11:30 p.m. Sunday.
• Ocean County: Approximately 330 customers remain without power. The majority of customers are expected to be restored by 11:30 p.m. Sunday.
• Burlington County: Approximately 290 customers remain without power. The majority of customers are expected to be restored by 11:30 p.m. Sunday.
• Monmouth County: Approximately 2,800 customers remain without power. The majority of customers are expected to be restored by 11:30 p.m. Monday.
• Warren County: Fewer than 30 customers remain without power. The majority of customers are expected to be restored by 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.
• Mercer County: Fewer than 80 customers remain without power. The majority of customers are expected to be restored by 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.
• Passaic County: Approximately 300 customers remain without power. The majority of customers are expected to be restored by 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.
• Hunterdon County: Approximately 700 customers remain without power. The majority of customers are expected to be restored by 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.
• Essex County: Approximately 1,000 customers remain without power. The majority of customers are expected to be restored by 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.
• Sussex County: Approximately 1,100 customers remain without power. The majority of customers are expected to be restored by 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.
• Somerset County: Approximately 2,200 customers remain without power. The majority of customers are expected to be restored by 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.
• Union County: Approximately 2,800 customers remain without power. The majority of customers are expected to be restored by 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.
• Morris County: Approximately 6,700 customers remain without power. The majority of customers are expected to be restored by 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.

It is continuing to offer water and ice to those without service.

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