Township Provides Monday Power Update

The latest report from JCP&L on Monday afternoon had 5,479 outages reported in the township. While that was significantly less than the more than 20 thousand reported last week after Hurricane Sandy the township administration said there is still more work to be done. 

In an email to residents Mayor Robert Walsh and the Council said they were glad to see fewer residents in the dark a week after the storm. That does not however, make up for the extended outages experienced and lack of information coming to Howell they said. "We share in your frustration regarding the communication from JCPL," they said. "They are not providing us sufficient updates."

The latest information they have received from the utility is that they are working on the Howell substation, which has not been energized, the Farmingdale substation which has one circuit energized and the Larabee substation which has four of its eight circuits energized. 

With several thousand residents still without power, temperatures expected to drop into the 30's at night and another storm headed our way the administration said they are still working to get everyone's lights back on. "We are working tirelessly to get JCPL to get all our residents up and running," the email said. "Unfortunately, JCPL does not fall under the Township's jurisdiction. However, we will not stop expressing our dissatisfaction with their communication procedures."

JCP&L recently released their latest estimates for having power restored across the state. Their latest chart shows 4,459 outages in the township and they aim to have 1,842 of those resolved by the end of today. The estimate is to have another 1,454 outages fixed tomorrow as well. The full chart can be seen attached to this story. 

As a result of the outages school has been closed for more than a week and a decision will be made in the next few days on when schools will reopen in the township. Several voting districts in the township were also moved ahead of Election Day on Tuesday.