Wayne Family Trolls JCP&L With Yard Signs After Extended Outage

WAYNE, NJ — After a long few days, and a number of yard signs, the Obal family has their power back.

Now it's impossible to say whether the Jersey Central Power & Light customers had any influence in getting power restored prior to the company's estimate, but it's possible they provided some extra motivation to area crews.

The messaging was direct and to the point: "we need electric."

Cathy Obal said the family was without power since Tuesday afternoon. To add insult to injury, the family's backup generator didn't work.

For three days, the family relied on their cars to charge phones and cool off with air conditioning, and utilized a few coolers filled with ice to try and store refrigerated food.

On Thursday, the family put up the signs in jest with the help of their daughter Caity, who started a project, Front Lawn Celebrations, as a "pandemic adventure."

Collective frustrations over the lack of power were surely amplified after months of the coronavirus pandemic, so the sign, Obal said, was well-received.

"Our street was extremely busy because Black Oak Ridge Road was detoured through it because of down powerlines and the transformer had blown," said Obal.

"All the cars and trucks that were passing were beeping and giving a thumbs up. The neighbors and people passing have been taking pictures all day."

Jersey Central, with 2,930 customers in the township, estimates that power will be restored to their customers by 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday. However, officials clarified that some customers could see their service return earlier.

The Obal family regained power around 11:00 a.m. Friday.

As of 2:10 p.m. Friday, 452 Wayne JCP&L customers are without power, and an additional 2,530 PSE&G customers are affected.

PSE&G, a power provider for over 2.3 million New Jersey customers, said on Friday that 90 percent of those who dealt with outages and interruptions will have their power restored as of 9:45 a.m., exceeding their own personal estimate of 85 percent by Friday.

The remaining 10 percent represent upwards of 50,000 customers who could be waiting as long as Monday to have their power restored, Chief Operating Officer Kim Hanemann said on a Friday call with reporters.

Read more: PSE&G Exceeds Initial Restoration Estimate, But Outages Linger

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