Gee....last time I heard this, I was without power for 5 days!

Maybe they should consider hiring some employees who actually live in NJ so they can be here on time?

LAst time after Irene I was w/o electricity for 4-1/2 days. Likely story.

Power is out already. Hoping it's back on soon. Not looking forward to winter if the power is going to go out everytime there's bad weather.

It's like deja vu! Tree limbs are already hanging low and they're just coming from Ohio? Just like Irene and it took them 5 days to get here!

Lights are blinking on Arnold drive.

The JCPL website is down for maintenance. So much for being prepared. No power and no way to get updates.

Yeah, just saw that. My power is out too. I won't even ask what else can go wrong because I don't wanna know.

Go to there web site to report an outage. The web site is down due to planned maintenance. What a bunch of crap

Last update was 7 hours ago? Really??? 7 hours ago i still had power! Did they look outside? How about an update on how many customers are out and when crews will start restoring power?

Maria - I agree 100 percent. We are in the 21st century, but one couldn't tell with all of these power lines hanging from poles. If the government wants to put people to work, how about we start with the lines.

No no no. Are you seriously talking about something that makes sense? Putting people to work AND creating a more reliable infrastructure (like the one for natural gas)?
Thats crazy talk. I bet you'd like to be able to speak to an actual person when you call the power company too.

Just like Hurricane Irene. We are unfortunate that we have JCP&L, which obviously run by a group of baboons. They are making their millions, have the BPU in their pocket and could care less about Somerset County, Based on their repair map, there is no on working on repairing any service in the county. Yesterday, their was no one at the call center. Can't get local updates either. The police claim they don't know anything. I'd like to know what government officials in this town are being notifiied and why we aren't being kept informed. Something has got to change in this town.

I would like to know where JCP&L President Donald M. Lynch lives. You know that he must have a generator. He could not be stupid enough to rely on his own JCP&L power grid. Could he? He most likely lives in a PSE&G service area.

Flagler Street & Speedwell Avenue/Clyde Potts Drive (Manahan Village- same street as Neighborhood House) has no power . Sad thing is they don't pay electric, so they can't report an outage because the phone number associated with the account is not known. There are alot of senior citizens in this area.

No way to get any repair status...we are in the dark in more ways than one. I have not heard any power updates on the so called 'Jersey Radio' stations but I can get all the sports scores from around the country. Does not make any sense.

Another JCP&L poo poo on the public. Scheduled maint. on their system could have been rescheduled when they first heard the storm was headed this way. Over a year ago I wrote the BPU with another complaint about JCP&L and suggested they stop the control they have over us. I recommened they allow PSE&G to take over our area since they are still based in N.J.

Not to get off track but this is the first time for me to be with out power for so long..I know lucky...I have a questions does anyone know based on experience..how long will food stay good and freezer and refridge? Generator not an option, apt is cold room temp is abt 50 now.

Power is back on at brown trail!!!!!

Is there any way to access even just a estimate about power restoration in Morristown? It's hard to make decisions w/o knowing whether it will be 1, 2, 3, 4 days (ie. Shall I drive from out of state to get my mother or not, etc.)

They haven't learned a thing. Who is paying for hotels those of us with small children and elderly need to get. Got a reservation for a whopping $200 per night and only one day vacancy. Homeless with babies, elderly and dog. Thanks to JC&L we have been without power since 11am Saturday morning, hadn't even really started snowing. Is telling us won't be up until well into next week keeping us informed? Lost hundreds of dollars in food, should come off my ridiculously high bill. I hate monopolies! Well Chris Christie has power, isn't that convenient?

boo to jcp&l. maybe you can explain to my children why their hamsters turned into ice cube blocks. jerks!

JCP&L needs to stop with all the lies to start with! How about finding someone who knows how to manage.....NOT micro manage! All these "cuts" were made to the employees who they are running into the ground and us poor slobs that pay all the increases for what? This is the worst service they have ever provided! I don't see any of the big wigs taking pay cuts or getting out of their warm beds when it hits the fan! People die with no power! You want to get paid.....we want service, sounds like a fair trade so JCP&L start holding up your end....have some hire ups take some pay cuts and hire some employees that can help get the job done. Management tip.....fire some of the lazy management, 4 or 5 of them would give the public 10 or 15 GOOD HARD WORKING employees. The outages get longer, the lies get bigger.....enough is enough!

I would usually suggest filing an online complaint with the NJ BPU but they won't do anything anyhow. They're all pals -- agency that supposed to be overseeing and crappy utility company.

JCP&L... you suck. That is all.

You people should complain to your Mother Nature...just what is it that JCPL is supposed to do with the thousands of lines that are down because of thousands of trees down? There are crews in from Ohio and elsewhere helping the NJ crews. PA can't help, they've got problems of their own. I know you little children have to complain, but really, are you willing to pay twice as much for electricity, cable and phone, so that all the lines can be buried underground (where they should be) ??? No, I didn't think so. Grow up and deal with it!!!

Butterworth neighborhood is Morris Township is a mess trees across roads wires down all over. Bet we don't get power back for days.

any news on lake shawnee...i need to get home.

Jerry..What world do you live in? I agree with Dario. That's crazy talk! RCH has the "RIGHT" idea. Let's stay with the system we have and deal with it. Progress doesn't improve anything it only cost money. I'm sure if we removed all company regulations the costs would surely come down and JCPL will definitely invest in infrastructure. Unless of course the CEO needs a new $36,000.00 waste paper basket.

Can't wait until the next big storm, when they spout more nonsense about how they have learned lessons from this one. Anyone else find this message a bit condescending? https://firstenergycorp.com/help/outages/October_Storm.html

This is not acceptable. We should expect more from our township and JCP&L.

www.generac.com

Warren township municipal offices are down, and there is no shelter set up because the High school is without power. A call to the police emergency management line said Thursday for power restoration, and they were working on a shelter. Clearly there was no back-up plan and the lack of information is astounding. The library in Warren is open if you need warmth and wifi. And looking at the numbers above, not a single area had FEWER outages at 11:00 than at 6:30!

I remember when JCP&L was run BY JCP&L...not First Energy..and there was a BIG difference. More trucks- more employees and they were on the job within 24 hrs.the latest- no matter what..middle of the night..huge storms..dangling wires- all of it. You would hear the trucks roll up and knew the calvary was here- power would be restored that night! This is utter nonsense to go 5-7 days without power is totally unacceptable.
People need to start stepping up to the plate and let them know..hire more help! We don't want to hear about all the crisis throughout the state and bringing in employees from out of state. How about start with having enough help here to begin with.The fiasco of not having the retaining wall built high enough to prevent all that flooding from the hurricane should have been enough egg on their face to make it better. It's just more of the same excuses..spend some of our hard-earned money that we pay you for your service to hire people who can fix it and fix it FAST- We are tired of this!

No power since Sat. Afternoon @ 3:00pm . House very cold at 40 degrees inside , warmer outside than in here. Can't leave do to having pets. Thank goodness we have a former Marine and BoyScout in family who can handle anything nature throws at us. Got propane stove to cook on fire in fireplace. Bad situation under control. Guess most folks don't know anything about being prepared for emergencies or how to rough it now a days. . God help us her in NJ should really big one hit us.

The difference between JP&L and PSE&G is enormous. I have been getting email updated daily from PSE&G. Nothing from JCP&L -- customer service doesn't know anything, their outage map doesn't change, nothing. The reason -- they don't care to communicate because they don't care about their customers because there is no repercussions for anything they do or do not do.

Hey Nordrill, get back to the job search buddy!

Flagler Street (same street at Neighborhood House/Manahan Village) and Clyde Potts Drive still no power in Morristown. I guess everytime it snows or rains alot Morris County will be effected ? JCPL needs to fix this, I'm sure they have the money. And if they don't have the resources, there are alot of folks looking for jobs

I live in the Branchburg, NJ area and have been without power since Saturday @2pm. First the prediction was that power would be restored no later than Wednesday and now the prediction is 95% restored by Thursday and the rest by Friday. JCP&L was ill prepared for this storm and customer service doesn't have a clue when service will be restored. I live in an area where the wires are underground so it must have been the transformer that was affected. What good is having underground wires if the power is still cut off. It is 40 degrees in the house and I am concerned about pipes bursting in the basement.

Meg - just curious when did you live in NO? Because only 4 hurricanes have affected the NO area in the last 35 years, and only one was catastrophic.

And Irene and this snowstorm ARE "storms of the century" in the fact that they only occur once in 100-200 years at best in this area. Some have called this snowstorm a once per 1000 year event. This isn't New Orleans, this is NJ and these types of storms happen maybe once in a lifetime.

So your gripe is not that you are without power (as predicted well in advance), but the fact that you didn't receive an exact estimated # of days that you would be without power? Not sure where you have been but I heard from many sources including the utility companies that it would take 2-3 days for power to be restored to most parts of NNJ.

You are lost.

At 11:00 am JCP&L reported 5,400 without power in Chatham. At 5:00 pm the # now is at 6,300. Nice work. They run their operation similar to our governement. Inefficiency, lack of leadership and poor communication are their guiding principles. Par for course.

Keni – An observation…
You seem indignant at the thought that someone would complain about being without power for an extended period of time. So please tell us all, in your infinite wisdom… At what point do residents have the right to complain about a utility’s failure to respond in a timely manner and to communicate effectively to an event like this?… 3 Days, 4 Days, 5……? After Irene, I (along 45 other homes in my neighborhood in Warren Township) was without power for nearly eight full days… Can I complain, or should I sit in silence and accept their passive/automated/“this was an unusual storm” response?

In my opinion, I have not only the right, but the responsibility to complain or do whatever is necessary (within the bounds of the law of course) to get a monopolistic utility to act in the best interest of the public rather than their own, very full pockets… If I don’t speak up, my silence can be construed as acceptance of their mediocre (at best) response to events like we’ve recently experienced.

Maybe they should consider installing the new power lines below ground like they do in Florida where I will be moving ASAP...((Flagler County)) all of their power lines are underground...no trees falling on them...no loss of power unless something MAJOR happens...something to consider when building new areas in NJ...

Personally, I understand that these are unusual circumstances. We were warned. My complaint is the lack of specific information as to when we can expect power back in each area. 95% by Thursday gives me no information about how to plan. They have to have a plan of attack with a projected order of repair, and why in that order. Why not share that information, and why not have real live people available to let customers know what to expect. Maybe they were properly prepared in advance, and maybe they weren't, and, if so, I hope they learn from this. However, the lack of human response, and the total lack of specificity as to when power should be back on for each local area is unconscionable.

All of Chatham Glen is back online. Great news!!!

Hey Nordrom, It is more than a TV or expresso we miss. It is more like no heat when the temp drops to 23 at night. There is little or no information from JCP&L. If they would just tell us we could make make an informed plan to get our lives back together. We still need to empty our refridgerators in to the garbage,do some laundry, and remove the trees from our roofs.

I agree. There are worse things then H'boro band missing the competition date! People have to throw out food that's gone bad, sleeping in frigid temps, no hot water, no way to do laundry. Are you kidding? Someone has lost their ability to empathize with real people.

TO DO LIST:
1. Buy a generator.
2. Buy a generator.
3. Buy a generator.

What about Ringwood! Not a word or truck/

To lose power for this long points to a very ineffective infrastructure when dealing with a crisis. You would have thought they would have started burying wires underground over 20 years ago and by now we would be operating with a modern effective infrastructure. You can't tell us that there isn't political powers involved with getting certain towns and areas on ahead of other towns. Motown seems to be a priority while Randolph, Dover and Rockaway are on stall mode. With power grid technologies you would think they could easily tell people their waiting times almost down to a window of a few hours. Anyways, yes this definitely sucks!

Jimmy - As someone who lived in Florida where most power is underground and there are many more big storms, I can say that underground utilities are wonderful. While there are obviously still above-ground transmission lines, repairing a small number of huge lines happens much more quickly than working block-by-block like this at the tail end of the power grid.

I think part of the solution for areas of NJ with trees is to simply have a more aggressive tree-trimming operation. At least where I live, it's pretty obvious the trees have been left untrimmed for far too long and there are some that just shouldn't even be there. An aggressive trimming operation would probably have made this storm much less of an issue.

The only good thing I can say about JCP&L at this point is that I think they do have some talented people working in whatever department is doing the assessment and planning of work. If they were fully staffed and willing to bring in more out of state workers (besides First Energy workers), I do think they have the organizational skills to knock this out in at least 1/2 the time. But like many recently consolidated power companies, they are cheap. The main reason for consolidation was to save cash by consolidating jobs. Doesn't work out well in an storm. And long-term investments, well, I don't think they even consider that. Quarter by quarter profit counting is the new way to run a business.

Right on point Css! I didn't even get started on the planned understaffing via budget cuts and quarterly shareholder meetings that ultimately lead to a shabby operation.

Anyways I just got word from a utility worker on the street who told me that it would be another week until power is fully restored. So long for JCP&L's claim to have everybody restored by Thursday or Friday. Crossing my fingers on this one!

I was under the impression (from News 12) that the area was to receive 3-7 inches of snow. Our property topped out at around 14 inches. I'm sure the extra snow contributed to the tree breakage and power outages. If I was underprepared, the power company could be, too. I moved here from West Milford and so far have had 6 major power outages (greater than 2 hours) in the three months I've lived in LV. I can't believe it's just "good luck" that in the 6 years I lived in WM, we only had three significant power outages. The answer for LV is probably some combination of all the ideas stated here: individual preparedness, better infrastructure, more proactive measures (tree trimming) and better communication all-around.

I think the lesson is, we have to be better prepared. Generators, wood stoves, well stocked food supply etc. are now necessities, not luxuries. I realize what a true wimp I am. I almost burned the house down Saturday night just trying to light my fireplace.

What about Candace Lane? We lose power constantly for no reason. Last time when Irene hit we lost power for 5 days. Are we trying to outdo last time?

My entire street in Basking Ridge lost power on Saturday when a primary line was taken down by a tree branch. At some point, JCP&L came by to remove the fuse at the top of our street to deactivate the line. They've not been back since. My neighbors and I have repeatedly reported the full outage to JCP&L. Each time we call, we're told they have no record of our calls. How can that be? To make matters worse, our town just sent out an email with a "complete" list of streets without power provided by JCP&L. Our street is not even on the list.

When I lived in Union we had PSR&G and they were great! Power was restore quickly and they actually gave you a credit on your bill for power you didn't have. What a concept! JCP&L is too greedy to do that.

are we waiting for JCP&L,or are we waiting for these sharks that came out the west to remove trees and limbs,they dont seem to have any kind of urgency whats so ever,as a matter of fact,only because I watched them work,they can milk a job like no other,slow becomes reverse,and everyone involved in this cleanup is part of this high wire act,town officials,police,DPW crews and THEN the bottom line JCP L who signs the checks!

Yesterday several of us in Randolph received automated responses on our cell phones, (# was left with them when reporting the outage), stating our service was restored. Guess what, BUTCH OF BULL!!! Don't believe those outage maps!!! We called them back and they said in there notes we were restored!! Stay on top of them!! Call to verify..you may also get "you've been restored" 888-544-4877

Got a call from JCPL saying will be at house in 24 hours....that was 2 days ago.

It really is pathetic. If they can't handle a 1 day snow storm followed by beautiful 50 degree weather the very next day, we are in for a LONG winter. Was it just me or did everyone notice no JCP&L or PSE&G trucks anywhere Sunday or even this week? Where are they working?? Once again, we pay more for less. Pathetic!

Skip, I'm with you. Haven't seen 1 truck, only the tree people who did their job. If the trees are gone, what's the problem?

There is absolutely no excuse for the lack of info available on the JCP&L site. Even an update saying "Zero Progress is being made, please bare with us. The magnitude of this storm was truly overwhelming and we are doing our best"....honesty would garner a modicum of trust on our part, but this "silent treatment" is very very poor business practice. Will we have viable option other that JCP&L after this is all over?? That may be the problem.

The outage number for Hopatcong has not changed significantly in the past two days. Why is HOPATCONG being ignored? Why did Christie get power restored overnight? JCP&L tells us they cannot give a priority to getting power to our schools to reopen. WHY NOT! Who is going to pay for the spoiled food in the school kitchens? In our homes? I am sick of sleeping in a cold waterless house. Maybe the President of JCP&L should come and camp out with some of us?

Looks like we had a few people confused about which Patch this is on. This is actually a shared post, being used by all Morris, Sussex and Somerset Patch sites. That's why we're including the regional information as well as the town-by-town breakdowns. Most of our sites also have separate stories with more information about what's going on specifically locally. Hope that clears things up.

JCP&L's list is very inaccurate. There are numerous streets without power that are not listed - Upper Field Road, Rolling Hill Drive, Brigade Hill Road, etc. This list is just a smokescreen to pacify people for the moment. There are many streets on the list with reported restoration dates that have passed without any action. Some streets are listed with only one home out when the entire block is out. There are lines down in the streets. We haven't seen a JCP&L truck all week. Again, as with Irene, we are receiving calls from JCP&L telling us our power has been restored. They sound very surprised when we tell them they are incorrect. JCP&L - get representatives out in the streets to assess the damage, and communicate with your customers. YOU CANNOT COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS BY PHONE, ON THE WEB OR BY EMAIL WHEN THET DON"T HAVE POWER. The main reason for is that the parent company, First Energy, has cut back staff to make a buck. The entire NJ office is understaffed and under trained. Out of state customer service does not work. Our state politicians should revaluate JCP&L's commitment to New Jersey.

Well said Cliff Lundin

I'm no math whiz, but in the hours between 6 a.m. and 11 a.m. they brought power back to 56 customers in Morristown ("only" 4,872 to go). Not sure how that computes to 95 percent of us being restored by tomorrow. Then again, as I said, I'm no math whiz. Also, agree with Billy Wilson 100 percent. The real question is whether we will have an option when this is over. Competition is the only way JCP&L will improve. Look how much Cablevision's service improved when FiOS came in.

I don't see how you have competition w/ the current model. If you "switch" electric companies you still are at the mercy of JCP&L to deliver it, no matter where it comes from. I lived in Vernon in the 80s and we lost power at least once a month, and with any minor storm. I moved to PSE&G territory and when I moved back I was pleasantly surprised at the improvements in JCP&L. Only slightly more outages than in PSE&G and that is pretty good when you take into account the rural nature of many of JCP&L's territories in NJ.

THEY NEED JC SUPERVISORS OUT ON THE ROAD WATCHING THE TREE GUYS COORDINATING THE WHOLE PROCESS,...POWER ON ///// POWER OFF/////POWER ON....AND GETTING DONE AREAS OF PRIORITY,... NOTHING AT ALL TO DO WITH JCP&L AND GETTING THE ELECTRIC ON AT ALL!

I have lived in Vernon for over 23 years and loose power on avgerage once a month. My father works for a power company (not JCP&L), so I fully understand the plight these workers go through and the mechanics behind it. With that being said, I loose power once a month (and yes, even when it is sunny out and for HOURS at a time). In fact, I have kept a log since last year. When JCP&L rep's hear about this they say I'm lying, and then check in there systems and claim, "Oh well it wasn't 7 hours, it was 6 1/2." I have lived in the same area for over 23 years and the last time I witnessed tree trimming was about eight years ago. I am sick of cutting corners and there lack of customer service. I now have a choice to pay another utility company and I'm switching. JCP&L may own the wires, but at least I won't be paying to be apart of this poorly run company. BPU will be getting a complaint, and I think maybe it's time I send JCP&L my generator bill.

These Outage update maps are a joke!!!!! It went from 35,000 morris county customers without power and in the next 30 minute update it JUMPED up to 55,000 people without electric I highly doubt 20,000 people called within that half hour time frame. I know they have their work cut out for themselves but this shotty reporting is frustrating and illogical. They better scrap their response protocol and write one that actually works.

I think everyone needs to stop and think about what they are saying. This whole thing is the fault of mother nature. JCP&L and other power companies are working around the clock to pick up the pieces. And Ohio was here as soon as they can get here. These men and women are working hard to restore your power while some of their own families are home with out power. Many roads are closed due to trees being down and live wires on them. DANGEROUS. This is a process that takes time. I know peoples patience are running low. And it is tough. But bashing the power company is not going to do you a bit of good. All I guess if that not good enough. Move to Florida . And just for the record my power was out too.

During Irene I was without power for 8 days! And I'm still without power since Saturday

it is time to ask our elected officials to establish a plan for long term power outages. As we have seen, this is not a fluke anymore, this is the trend that our weather is taking. We need plans in place now for when large numbers of residents lose their power. The last two storms should serve as a reminder that we are a society of people who rely too much on other sources for our survival. We need to have large scale plans coordinated by our elected leaders, and we need to take personal responsibility -- being prepared with generators, wood stoves, fully stocked pantries, water and first aid supplies. We need to go back to our childhood roots and become girl scouts and boy scouts again.

Yes it is nice to live in the 21st century, but sometimes mother nature dumps things on us like this. And we need to be resourceful. It's not all about texting and emailing. And many if us live paycheck to paycheck. I am sorry that you have an ill child. This was an act of nature . And it sounds like your are just worried about texing and emailing. JCP&L should not be held responsible for this at all. they ate working around the clock to fix it. But it's very challenging when roads are closed due to down trees.

Believe me I feel your pain. I was without power for 2-1/2 days twice now- and I felt like I was living in the twilight zone. I understand. It's enough to wear your spirit down.

LV Res - In my case it truly is about email, web and a bunch of other internet-based stuff that I won't get into. I make about 95% of my money from a desk at home and when the power goes out, in addition to being cold, not having a stove or hot water, I can't work. That hurts. And since I need a better than average internet connection, Starbucks and the like (if they have power/internet) doesn't usually cut it. On my end, I've tried to prepare - I have two internet connections and a generator, but the generator proved less than cooperative and on top of that the outage seemed wide enough that both internet connections were spotty at best.

These outages cost me real money, and I have no employer to give me sick days or the like, so I for one feel totally justified in bitching about it. :)

I'm attempting to unsub from receiving email updates for this article and am having no success!!!!!! Further frustration to a very frustrating week!

If you have a smart phone you may be able to use it as a wireless hot spot - check with your carrier. This will use up the battery quickly though, so you will need power to keep out going.

I have a daily routine now. When I get to work (where I have power, unlike my home) I check the JCP&L website, and then I check here to find out what's actually going on.

Billy,
The post you read was me responding to someone elses post. That was not my original post.

Surenuff: Please contact me! I would like to offer you and your child a place to stay until your power comes back on. (908) 256-5787.

Morris Township - Upper Field Road, Dorothy Drive, Fairmont Avenue and Grace Way still out. The downed wires are still in the same place as they were on Saturday. Luckily our Township Police and Fire Departments have graciously marked them for you. JCP&L, my bill always arrives at my house on time every month. The mailbox still works in a power outage, and a knock on the door can be heard in the silence of our neighborhood. How about communicating to your customers with a flyer, street representatives, a customer service station here or there? This lack of direct communication is deplorable. It is simple customer service 101. Be proactive, talk to your customers directly, bring out hot chocolate, coffee, water bottles, flashlights, batteries, ski hats, gloves, etc. (even branded with your logo) A little customer service now will go a long way when the bashing starts. A couple of dollars now will save you quite a bit down the road. Hiding behind the fallen tree branches is a cowardly act. And don't even think of estimating our bills this month like the last time (Irene). We would all like the exact usage on our next bill.

Lee.Solomon@bpu.state.nj.us

This is the email of the nj board of public utilities president . Let him know your thoughts.

Tim Quinn, the Township Administrator and the Morris Township Council members have been in constant contact with our residents. They have offered solutions for problems and have been relentless in their efforts to improve the current conditions. We can only hope that JCP&L will listen and learn from our representatives.

This has been a really trying week for everybody, and for everyone who is still without power, I really feel for you. The situation has been really difficult on a number of levels:
1. It always is challenging to lose power/electricity - it represents a serious life disruption.
2. It's been cold - our house was 45-50 degrees many nights.
3. Fun events (Halloween) and not-so-fun events (School) were canceled for the kids
4. JCP&L was slow to respond (it takes time for trucks to arrive from Ohio and Western PA) and communications from the company have been lacking - so it's hard to strategize (should I stay or go?)

That being said, I was relying on the Patch and this message board to gather local information on the power outages and in an attempt to figure out how to manage in the face of a total communications breakdown on the part of the power company. While many posts were helpful (i.e. knowing what streets were out, which were coming back on-line, where we saw trucks working, where the damage was really bad, etc), I was utterly frustrated with the subset of posts & threads devoted to name calling, insults, and "suck it up" messages that served no purpose other than make people more frustrated and angry than they already were.

I hope these Boards can serve a more useful purpose in future emergencies. In particular, I really liked the idea of the Google maps to show power outages.

I am a tax and bill paying american and I don't need to be a electric expert to know that it is unresonable to be without eletricity for more than a couple days. is this america or some 3rd world country? it snowed a few inches like it does every friggin year in nj you mean they cant get electric back in a day or so how come in hurricane country they can do this? my kids have guinea pigs and one of them got sick due to the extreme 40 degree cold, who is going to pay for the vet bill? i am going to send it to jcpl. i havent seen any power people working directly outside my house I mean sure the lines aren't busted outside my house but I should at least see them out there, it would make me as a customer feel better at least. Do you know what its like to have to wear extra layers of clothing and sleep under an extra comforter for what now 4 entire days and not have hot food every night. I am a taxpaying american and I deserve better sorry call me whatever you want but this isn't africa. they should knowck down the whole grid and start from scratch build a failsafe system then the electricity will never go out.

Now excuse me I have to go explain to my kids that JCP&L murdered their guinea pigs.

Try blaming the real culprit. I'm sure god can handle the accusation.

Robbinsville files complaint against public utility for outages during Irene
we should fire JCP&L and get our own like Madison.

Power is still out in the garden street area

Our street is clean and there is no down power line. The power is fed from the Southern Blvd main line. Now the power is back on the Southern Blvd section. There is no reason JCP&L can't switch on the line in our neighborhood. JPC&L please do your job; 20+ families are still waiting.

WAMS lost power today at 1230. Our block was listed as being back on for 11/2, we're still out.

Maven, you are not going to die. Being a little bit cold for a week and having to adapt is not trying to survive. By the way if you are so preoccupied with trying to survive why are you on Chatham patch. Relax, we will get power back.
It is not jcp&ls fault, they are doing the best they can with the limited resources provided. We have many things to be thankful for.

A suggestion... call/email any and all public officials you can-- your mayor, congressman, and governor. Give them your street address and be sure your complaint gets recorded because it's the only way to get results. Afraid wasting our time posting here isn't going to get the response we need. Jcpl lists for streets with outages is WRONG. My street has been on the 'with' power list and it doesn't have power!!!

In Hillsborough, we had almost 600 families without power until Wednesday. It was too COLD for most people to stay in their homes without heat. Why didn't the twp set up a shelter or ask for residents with power to come forward, esp. for seniors and disabled. Those who could afford snapped up all the hotel rooms in the area days ago. This was too big a problem for neighbors to handle on their own! Mayor McCauley called this whole thing "status-quo"! Not if you're without power for almost a week!

Fun fact: As of 9:48 a.m., Morristown has the second highest number of outages, only bested by Summit. Our mayor sure told them!

@Maven,Plenty of people in my town (particularly my school) offered hot showers, meals & beds for other families in my area so I am sorry for your situation but it wasn't my experience at all.

Just (barely) booked this hotel room for another night. I should have this paid off by christmas.

JCP&L needs more boots on the ground. They need to be honest with town officials about their predictions so that towns can better prepare their residents as to what to expect. JCP&L took about an hour to fix a transformer that affected light/heat and water for 700 customers including two schools. They came and assessed the problem days earlier, then left. Buracracy.. I dont blame the guys on the ground. They get their marching orders from above. They are not allowed to do the job they assess until their work order has been approved, days later. What's wrong with this procedure in times of emergency.(700 people doing without for five days when the job was called "easy" by the workers who finally showed.) The higher ups at JCP&L need to do some serious re-thinking as to how they are going to service their customers in the future. They also need to be honest about what they can handle and when the job wil get done. They have been misleading town officials during hurricane Irene and they continued to say all the right things this time, (PR campaigns on 101.5 etc... ) but there was nobody here, or Warren or Hunterdon County for example for days on end... They need to stand behind their words. The guys at the transformer pole that affected my area actually admitted that they were told to assess the problem then move onto other areas. (??) Lesson: When you buy a house, find out who services your electric before signing on the bottom line!

For Basking Ridge, as of 7AM Friday 128 people out, that's great, except if you are one of the 128 affected.
Three-quarters of Lake Road is out, with nary a crew to be seen. Five days in Irene, and now going on Six Days for this storm. Lake Road is not even on the list of roads to be seen from the bernards.org site. It seems JCP&L has no idea that there are outages or mor sinister, padding the 'numbers' to make the response look better than it is. The mayors of towns should file a compliant with NJ BPU.

@gadget - If I were a bit more cynical, I'd think that all the "your power has been restored" calls I've received are part of a game to pad the numbers. The calls come near the end of the night when they need to hit their estimated repair numbers. If you miss the call, I'm betting that you on the list as "restored" and their numbers get a little closer to their targets. Just a hunch. I've had one of those calls every night since Tuesday. After the call, the outage map always seems to have magical jumps in numbers of restored customers even though no crews have been in the area.

I woke up at 7:17 this morning and was thrilled that the numbers glowed on my digital clock. Power back at Western/Rolling Hill. Hurrah!

still no power on Paula Drive, LV. even though i got another call saying power was restored.

Patch should be used to post information, not for nonsense communication. Please use your personal email accounts when you are getting off-track like this.

FirstEnergy nearly triples 3Q earnings
The Business Journals
Date: Wednesday, November 2, 2011, 4:40am EDT

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) nearly tripled its third-quarter earnings compared to a year ago thanks to higher sales margins and the company's acquisition of Greensburg, Penn.-based Allegheny Energy, the Akron Beacon Journal reports. The Akron-based parent company of Ohio Edison reported third-quarter earnings of $509 million, or $1.22 a share, compared to $175 million, or 59 cents a share, last year, the newspaper reports. Revenues increased by $1 billion to $4.7 billion, buoyed by the Allegheny Energy acquisition.

Just an update, Morristown is now in the lead with the most outages remaining. We're at 823, followed by Summit at a close second with 720. Rah rah rah! We're #1!

Just got a call from my landlord. He drove by my house and there was a JCP&L truck there. Now everyone around me has power but for the little old lady up the hill, my immediate neighbor and Nottingham Court (pricey townhomes). Most of the neighbors came back on Monday or Tuesday when the major cleanup of the trees around here was finished. The JCP&L guy proceeds to tell me and two very upset residents from the townhomes that basically "you shouldn't be without power" and that "it's probably just a fuse". I am going to lose my sh*t if it turns out I paid $150-odd bucks a day for Weds, Thurs and Fri nights because no one thought to check the fuses as they did the other restoration work. That's just inexcusable...

A few years back when I was out for 4 days due to an actual downed line I watched them replace the fuse, and the linemen were great guys. I'm curious about this stuff and they showed me a new fuse as well as the one they replaced, explained how they trip, showed me the nifty tool they use to pop a new one in (took under 10 minutes), and then sent me home with the blown fuse as a souvenir.

In the last outage, did anyone try getting any kind of reimbursement? I'm half tempted to try this time, this is big bucks and not checking something like a fuse is just negligent.

There is a (they think) live wire down on Kemble with crews diverting traffic. As a result, we have no power again!

well chennal 7 on there web page say that the heaviest hit like morris warren sussex county will not have there power back until maybe over the weekend
but it is 1000 pm 2 hrs to go and no power

We were promised yesterday and so far no power. I didn't lose patience until this morning when they lied to me again. I have talked to Jcpl several times. Twice I was told there are no supervisors working and twice more was lied to. I guess they are mot too botheted with our roblems. Two people have already died as a result of this. Jcpl's system is poorly maintained and antiquated. The storm was the event but a major contributing factor is that the grid was already falling apart. Jcl should be working to move critical assets underground, Affter Irene a system audit should have been conducted and weak links upgraded. Where is that report, the repairs and the governance for which we pay them and our political leaders and agencies ? It is funny that if an airplane sits on a Tarmac for three hours there is a federal inquiry, yet we're living like analz for a week and nobody says boo! Good job Mr President, Mr Governor and our Congressmen and thanks FE for the way you manage the regulated monopoly the people of NJ have given you.

Well, midnight came and went. Am I a pumpkin yet?

I got quite a few phone calls though. I'm now pretty much convinced the calls are just to bump the restoration numbers up. If they don't reach you, you're "restored". FWIW, I'm not in one of the "heaviest hit" areas. The big mess was cleaned up and power was restored to most of the neighborhood quite early. I simply don't believe these people anymore. Fired off my complaint to the BPU today. Morris Township claims they'll be calling JCP&L in for another little Q&A session.

Going to leave the hotel tomorrow, go out for the day, and if there's no power then I'm looking for a closer/cheaper hotel. And maybe egg the Morristown JCP&L office. Or bring some gifts from my dogs for the "reserved" parking spots.

Well, it's now a week. At least rooms at a closer hotel are now available. Goodbye Secaucus. Visiting home in a bit to see if it's just me out or if Nottingham is still out too.

Maven, I thought you are in the 7th grade ?

Yep, another False Boast from Gov Buttertubbs, one that he had no business making, but, perhaps the least of his many lies.

Wow. One of my work computers paged me at 3:30 p.m. today to let me know that my DSL and cable internet were both reachable again (I trust this more than the JCP&L robocaller). Sure enough, I came by my home on the way to tonight's hotel and there were linemen working on James St. near where a tree had fallen across the road a week ago. Apparently they missed one of 4 lines early this week. Oopsie.

I also wanted to put in a really kind word for Mr. Timothy Quinn, the Morris Township Administrator. I sent a quick email to the general Morris Township mailbox a few days ago, and he answered within a few hours to let me know that the township is pushing JCP&L every day and getting updated restoration lists. I'm not sure if he ultimately was responsible for myself and the condos across the street getting power restored today, but he was certainly on the ball about updating me each day and verifying my power was on this afternoon.

I was not aware of what his office does, so I'll share:

http://morristwp.com/dept_admin.asp

Sounds like it's the catchall management for whatever the mayor and council don't get around to. Probably not a fun job, but I really appreciated his help during this mess.

As Sundat starts the beginning of day 9 with no power, it's fair to say that JCP&L is
not capable of reasonable reponses to storms that cause power outages. They haven't improved their infrastructure, their supply depots are kept at a bare minimum, and they don't have enough crews to mobilize. They are owned by First Energy of Ohio, which has little incentive to invest in improvements. It's time for
the BPU to revoke their license. Dennis Wharton, Fairview Ave, Long Valley

Looking at the Friday the 4th end of day outage report for Long Valley, the trend is getting worse. Not a good sign for JCP & L. Don't know if some outages were not reported earlier or the "utility cleared them" when it restored some segment of the outage leaving others unresolved. JCP&L has gone backwards for the past four years. Fairview Avenue and Laketown Road areas always seem to take the brunt of the outages in terms of the time it takes to restore service. A good question for the Township Committee to raise when JCP&L comes to the the Nov. 21 Public meeting. It would probably be worthwhile to be there to hear what they have to say and/or to be sure to send a note to the Mayor to add to the list of questions to be asked. I doubt the BPU would revoke the franchise, but a penalty in the form of a credit on the monthly electric bill for a period of time for failing to meet performance standards might get their attention more focused on solutions rather that "sticky tape repairs".

My 2 favorite favorite experiences with JCP&L this past week:
1) The ongoing opening telephone recording that went something like "Due to the effects of the recent storm, JCP&L will not be turning off power for non-payment". Darn, I wish that I hadn't paid my bill.
2) On my 5th day without power I made my daily phone call to see if the script had changed. The representative read me the ongoing script (95% up by midnight Thursday & the remaining 5% by midnight Friday) and then ended our conversation with "And you have a balance of $35". Now THAT was a definite LOL moment!