Township Provides Thursday Night Update on Power

After the first big snowstorm of the year on Wednesday many residents who had lost power as a result of the storm once again were put back on the grid by the time Thursday was over. 

In an update from the Mayor and Council, work is continuing to have power restored to all the residents of Howell. "There are numerous reasons why our town lost power," the statement said. "We are told that there were an extensive number of trees down, transformer explosions and damage at the substations that feed Howell."

For the more than 5000 homes still without power the council said they do not have a timeframe on when their service will be restored. Anyone without power is asked to call 1-888-LIGHTSS to report their outage. 

Once power is restored the council said there will still be more work to be done. "We are sure that the Governor and Board of Public Utilities (BPU), which oversees the utility, will hold hearings after this crisis is over." The council said when those hearings are held the opinion of the local council will be heard "LOUDLY."

Township Manager Helene Schlegel will also reportedly be part of a focus group that will meet with the top administrators of the BPU. 

The hearings are still down the road but the council said they are "doing everything humanly possible to get power restored in Howell Township." Unfortunately, they added, "We are at the mercy of the utility company."

For those residents without power who wish to be taken to one of the county operated shelters they can call the Howell Police Department at 732-938-4111 to have arrangements made. 

Even the administration was not immune from the problems caused by Wednesday's storm. "Township communications have been limited due to power and telecommunication outages," the statement said. 

While aknowledging that Howell is not the only town with power problems the council said, "We know this doesn't make anyone feel any better and we will continue to aggressively pressure JCP&L to restore all power to Howell Township Customers."