JCP&L to Target School Areas for Power Friday

As Day 11 post-Hurricane Sandy begins in Washington Township, Jersey Central Power & Light says it has heard residents loud and clear.

Despite the utility provider's power outage map stating there were still 2,182 residents in the dark Friday morning, a conversation between Mayor Ken Short and Director of External Affairs for First Energy Jeff Elser Thursday night revealed a game plan of sorts to end the work week. 

"I asked Mr. Elser for the absolute truth as to power restoration in Washington Township," Short said in a letter to residents Thursday night. "As I have learned, the information provided comes directly from JCP&L, and is not always correct."

Elser's outline of power restoration to Short is as follows:

There will be supervisory crews on Bartley Road and Naughright Road (Thursday night) analyzing the damages to provide for active work crews on Friday. The Chester circuit #17540 serves Old Farmers Road School as well as the Middle School. There will be crews working on that circuit (Friday). This will allow for power restoration to East Mill Road and residents in the Capital Estates section of the Township. These are considered as quarantine circuit which means the crews keep working until completion of power. 

The WMCHS (circuit #17541) which runs off the Chester Sub-station, currently has crews working and will continue working throughout tomorrow. These crews will be working the entire circuit.  This means that they will not stop at the High School, but continue beyond. This, hopefully, will bring the Coleman Road, Ridgeline, Chancellor Way, Bartley, Fairview Avenue, Ranney Road and Squire Roads to restoration of power. 

The circuit that feeds Cuccinella School (circuit #17100) is a dual circuit that provides power from the Drakestown Sub-station as well as the Newburgh Road Sub-station. The supervisory crew has been on site (Thursday night) assessing the damages. Crews will muster at the Draketown Sub-station (Friday morning) and work towards restoration of Cuccinella School on Friday. The reopening of Naughright Road should happen on Friday.

Power will also probably be restored to the Nestling Pines Sub-division, Warwick Estates, Cambridge Estates, The Woods, as well as the Mission Road area.  

Please remember that these are statements from JCP&L that have not been accurate in the past. This is the best information that I have available at this time and am relying totally on information provided by JCP&L. There was also a conference call (Thursday) which provided an update from JCP&L. The JCP&L President Lynch made a statement that everyone will have full restoration of power by the end of the weekend with the exception of several “spot” outages. I have also been advised that an additional 1,200 workers have arrived in NJ and will be “in the field” on Friday.

In addition, I have also been advised that there is no shortage of parts, transformers or utility poles.