NJ Power Restoration May Take Until End Of The Weekend: Official

NEW JERSEY — More than 977,000 New Jerseyans woke up to no power on Wednesday, and some of them may be waiting through the weekend to get their electric service restored, the head of the Board of Public Utilities said.

Regionally, there were 3.5 million homes in 14 states without power; New Jersey accounted for 1.4 million of those, said Joseph Fiordaliso, president of the state Board of Public Utilities during a news conference. He said the state had 977,000 still without power as of Wednesday morning.

"New Jersey literally got whacked," Fiordaliso said. "The entire state was ravaged by this quick-moving storm."

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Tropical Storm Isaias plowed across New Jersey from about 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, moving at 40 mph and packing sustained winds of up to 50 mph. There were multiple areas that recorded wind gusts of up to 75 mph. A gust of 109 mph was recorded on Long Beach Island, officials there said.

Fiordaliso said the power outages were reminiscent of the issues after Superstorm Sandy, when 2.7 million homes were without electricity. (Fiordaliso said 1.7 million in Sandy, but on Friday state officials corrected and said there were 2.7 million out after Sandy.)

"Our hope is by late Friday night 80 percent of customers will be restored," Fiordaliso said. The hope of the BPU and power companies is the remainder will have their power restored by the end of the weekend.

Two things are making the restoration a slow process: the extent of the damage and road closures.

Not only are power lines and transmission lines down, but the transmission system itself was damaged significantly, Fiordaliso said. System repairs have to be made before lines are reconnected.

The considerable tree damage also still blocks roads throughout the state. New Jersey State Police Superintendent Col. Patrick Callahan said there are at least 55 roads still impassable. Callahan said chainsaw crews from the state Department of Environmental Protection are out working to remove downed trees.

Fiordaliso said state officials are in constant contact with the utility companies to get updates on the status of repairs. More than 2,000 repair crews from out of state are arriving to assist, coming from Canada, Florida, Mississippi and the Midwest.

"It’s going to unfortunately take some time," he said.

Fiordaliso also urged residents again to stay away from downed power lines and tree branches because of the danger that electrified lines can pose. An electrified line fell on the windshield of a car during the storm and melted the windshield, he said.

"If you see a downed line or a tree branch, call it in," he said.

Every county in the state had significant numbers of power outages. Trees came down on homes, on cars, and on power lines.

Here's a county-by-county breakdown of outages, by electric company, as of 1:30 p.m.

JCP&L: View the outage map

• BURLINGTON: 9,351
• ESSEX: 4,329
• HUNTERDON: 18,225
• MERCER: 9,386
• MIDDLESEX: 37,560
• MONMOUTH: 143,816
• MORRIS: 119,479
• OCEAN: 88,584
• PASSAIC: 15,120
• SOMERSET: 20,289
• SUSSEX: 19,326
• UNION: 18,687
• WARREN: 9,281

PSE&G: View the outage map

• BERGEN: 83,541
• BURLINGTON: 36,798
• CAMDEN: 6,363
• ESSEX: 46,266
• GLOUCESTER: 557
• HUDSON: 18,310
• HUNTERDON: 27
• MERCER: 20,291
• MIDDLESEX: 22,907
• MONMOUTH: 1,335
• MORRIS: Fewer than 5
• PASSAIC: 17,640
• SOMERSET: 9,781
• UNION: 22,969

ATLANTIC CITY ELECTRIC: View the outage map

• ATLANTIC: 18,767
• BURLINGTON: 2,733
• CAMDEN: 1,691
• CAPE MAY: 11,504
• CUMBERLAND: 4,105
• GLOUCESTER: 2,132
• OCEAN: 20,124
• SALEM: 1,203

JCP&L said it had 3,000 workers out repairing lines and will have an additional 1,200 joining those efforts. The company said customers should report any service interruptions — even if you believe it's been reported — because customer reports help identify damage locations and restore power faster. Call 888-544-4877, or text OUT to 544487.

PSE&G customers can text OUT to 47734. Atlantic City Electric customers should call 800-833-7476.

Note: This article has been updated to correct that there were 2.7 million New Jersey homes without power in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.

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