Remember to file complaints with the state Board of Public Utilities and Tweet - #FirstEnergy #JCP&L $FE ...

We got power at about 8:40 pm, but it was out again one the middle of the night! After not having power for one week with Hurricane Irene, we are very angry with JCP&L! I will file a complaint as there must be some kind of consequences issued.

This is just unacceptable !!! The powe keep getting of and on all afternoon!
Without any notification it finally went dead in the late afternoon
It cam back on around 8:45 and than it was out again most of the night !

We should get some kind of a notice and some $ credit towards our bills.

If there is an act of God it is not in control of the Power Company but here a WARM day to have such an outage.... just UNACCAEPTABLE !!!!

Even after calling the power company not even a word of APPOLOGIES LOL

Local politics aside, the larger issue is First Energy and its JCP&L unit. Greater oversight is needed. And so protesting to state authorities ( http://www.nj.gov/bpu/assistance/complaints/index.html ) and using Twitter - use the #FirstEnergy and #JCP&L hashtags and $FE for the stock symbol - may be a step in the right direction toward alerting regulators and FirstEnergy investors that management is incompetent and warrants greater scrutiny. There has been ample time since the disaster last October for FirstEnergy and JCP&L to perform needed maintenance and run stress tests. Yet, look what happened on the first 90-plus-degree day this year. And summer is not even here officially. If still more FirstEnergy customers experience the sort of power failures that Millburn has suffered, the stock price may reflect eventually reflect this managerial weakness. Don't wait until the next power failure.

Mayor Haimoff failed us in the past and she will fail us again. She lacks leverage and relationships with key stakeholders for our town. This could be the start of a long summer with JCP&L and Millburn/Short Hills Township.

We can not let THIS happen: http://millburn.patch.com/articles/mayor-to-run-for-township-committee-again

Now the Downtown has lost power or has half power. Really JCPL after you spent weeks fixing the downtown so they wouldn't have issues how is this happening now.
They stink.

So far since 10:52am this morning I've logged 9 short outages (less than a minute each). Either the voltage has dipped so low that the UPS logged it as an outage or the service has been fluttering. Lucky so far, but bad omen, I fear. My house is in Glenwood.

Power is apparently going on and off at the high school today. Not sure if other schools are affected. We had intermittent power outages yesterday afternoon, then power went off at 3am for about 45 mins. Having been without power 5 days, then 8 days with the last 2 storms, I am worried about this summer.

Laura - I'm sure the Mayor has responded to this situation. What were some of her comments and reactions to new power issues in town with JCP&L?

The number of power outages over the past year has been awful. While there are extreme or unusual occurrences in life, storms and heat waves are within the bounds of "normal." The power company should be able to withstand them. Disgraceful.

A coordinated effort is needed that involves all locally elected officials. Those who are inclined might also want to call these folks, who represent the 27th legislative district that now includes Millburn....

Senator Richard Codey - District Office: 66 W. Mount Pleasant Ave., Livingston, NJ 07039 973-535-5017

Assemblywoman Mila Jasey - District Office: 511 Valley St., Maplewood, NJ 07040 973-762-1886

Assemblyman John McKeon - District Office: 250 Main St., Madison, NJ 07940 973-377-1606

There is also the state Division on Rate Counsel, which is supposed to be a consumer advocate for utility issues.... 973-648-2690

Sounding off on Patch is only one step in the process....

Power's been out here for around 40 minutes so far. The brainiac at JCP&L said that 2500 are without power, I guess relating to whatever it was that failed. She also said that "they are en route", but not where from or what they're en route to. The machine said 3:30pm estimate for restoration. No heat wave, no hurricane, no freak October snow storm. Just failure.

John...while I am no fan of JCPL, there is a heat wave, which is probably the root cause of the outages.

J S, Not according to the Weather Service. The only Excessive Heat warnings are for counties in Southern NJ. The only thing applicable to our area is a severe thunderstorm warning.

I just complained to the utility company by email and also http://www.nj.gov/bpu/assistance/complaints/index.html

The unstable power yesterday fried our washer. With a full load of cloths still soaked in the dead washer, we had to go buy a replacement immediately from Bestbuy, but they won't deliver for another week.

If you have power & your friends & neighbors don't - please let them know that the Millburn Public Library has power, air conditioning & Internet (including wifi). Come on in & cool off.

No power still in the Wyoming section 2:15 pm

We are in Wyoming and have been without power since noon. We were given an time of 2 pm for restoration, but 2pm has come and gone and we still don't have power.

In Glenwood, where our house is located, power went down at 12:58:40 and came back up again at 1:59:17. Prior to that there were 7 instances of momentary loss of power. Hopefully all you guys still dark (and hot) won't have much longer to wait.

No power currently at Forest Dr South

Has anyone noticed, the last few months, the police department doesn't seem to keep us inform like they used to?? What changed, they always seemed to be ahead of the curve and even if we didn't like what we heard, we got word? Seems like we don't hear any stories of crime from the Short Hills Mall or other stuff going on around town. Or is this my imagination? I don't think it is the Patch, because the Item doesn't have any news either.

MLev, as a graduate of MHS I for one know what that school feels like in late June, with no A/C, with the lights off. There are worse places to be. Don't even try.

I urge everyone to please file a complaint on http://www.nj.gov/bpu/assistance/complaints/index.html ). I just did, something has got to be down about the total breakdown of information from JCP&L, our mayor and the police. Also, it is beyond belief that the HS was without power, but would not release the students, making them suffer in over 90 degrees. People cannot learn or teach in such conditions that are dangerous.

To the naysayers: The problem is systemic and ongoing. For the past year, FirstEnergy's JCP&L has been unable to provide proper service and compounded those episodes by failing to respond in a meaningful and timely fashion. Why file complaints with various government offices? For a simple reason - pressure the company to deliver services and become more responsive. Why Tweet? Raise awareness of the problems beyond our local borders (hashtags: #FirstEnergy #JCP&L). There have been repeated power failures followed by repeated corporate failures. Is the most recent power failure a harbinger of things to come? This is the concern in light of the poor JCP&L track record of late. Uncertainty lingers about the coming summer months in which public safety, commerce and the usual flow of daily life may not only be interrupted, but jeopardized. These are legitimate concerns in any community, regardless of demographics. And these are the sorts of concerns that state officials should be addressing as they represent their constituents.

Does anyone know if Forest Drive (Short Hills Club Village) has power?

I think we should keep it civil among ourselves and save our anger for JCP&L. They continually underestimate and underperform, and they need a permanent base in NJ to take calls, distribute information, and have enough of their own personnel to do the work we are all paying for.

Wyoming school was also without power today, from about 12 onward. Of course, the school has no AC at all, except in a few rooms and it is always hot, even in the winter.

4 pm and still no power.

JCP&L is incompetent and unsatisfactory. This is the problem with utilities - they can suck and customers have no choice. Milburn is at the far reaches of an Ohio based company's service area, one of the last to get power after Irene (when PSE&G served on adjacent streets never lost power). And Nantz, did you walk uphill both ways 10 miles in the snow to school? Spare us the pretentious comments, you sound like you work for JCP&L.

Laura, ? re Township Comm election as there are numerous comments above on the subject: Got the primary ballot today in the mail. I was surprised to see the Democrats are not running a candidate against Mayor Haimoff. Does this mean the election is unopposed and the Mayor is automatically re elected? Or can candidates still get on the ballot? And why is there so much coverage of school board elections yet this seems to have slipped under the radar?

The loss of power, pre-summer, could be a blessing in disguise. I would gladly give up AC in the hopes that it would encourage residents in Millburn/Short Hills to stand up and demand a new mayor and a restructuring of the township committee. Their slow response in times of need and lack of relationships with utility companies should send a message, loud and clear, to our community that it's time for change.

Write in vote for Dan Baer. He was the best Mayor we ever had.. Time for change..

And fire Tim Gordon, he is just as useless. I guess they are too busy paying MILLIONS for the Old Short Hills Park screwup to care about the rest of the town.

@Nantz my point is that JCP&L's service and responsiveness fall far short of PSE&Gs service in Maplewood but Millburn residents don't have a choice. Of course we put things in perspective this is not Zimbabwe. But JCP&L pretty much blows.

What am I missing? What can the mayor do except keep us informed and try to put pressure on the company? I can go either way with her, but I just do not understand the anger for this issue.

On a side note, is anyone else uncomfortable with the level of anger on these boards. We live in one of the best towns in the country. Things aren't perfect, but we have it pretty darn good!!!

I just went back and read the article about Mayor Haimoff's State of Township Address - if you get a chance, you should read it too. Also, take a look at the comments associated with the article.

Article: http://millburn.patch.com/articles/x-cf96dad6

Take note of the end of the article - specially this section in reference to Mayor Haimoff's address: "Not only will the township continue to pressure JCP&L to that end, she said, it will also “be applying pressure to the Board of Public Utilities” to deal with JCP&L. “We will continue to learn from the past, work in the present and plan for the future,” she said."

Well I think its great that Nantz can remember the halcyon days of yesteryear when he had to walk 10 miles to school, uphill both ways over broken glass and he loved it but the point is that for most people who live in the 21st Century and don't hand crank the old victrola we have come to expect some level of service and consistency with what is a basic public service, electricity. Not only for the comfort and convenience but also because some of us need the power for our computers that we use for work or to make sure our very expensive food in the refrigerator and freezer don't spoil. I think at the very least we can expect of our do nothing Mayor is to get some type of pre-warning that the power is going to be cut so we can make alternative plans (as it was this time in the Wyoming section) or get realistic timelines. It really is absurd that one town away in any direction and the power grid remains on and relatively trouble-free yet since there is no competition and they have not been held accountable we are forced to live with a grossly subpar system. And as for you Nantz, I'll tell you what, during the next power outage I will bring over my rotting food so you can sit at the curb with it and enjoy the heat, and you can write me a check for its value.

Nantz, I'm not so sure those sweaty days at Millburn High served you well since judging from the frequency and tone of your comments you seem a little bitter and complacent, almost like you have come to accept what you are given and learned to live with it. However, I, like every other person on this board, feels I am entitled to a reasonable level of service after I have paid for that service. You are correct, I don't like living without power, being uncomfortable or watching my food spoil. You on the other hand find living without power acceptable and would rather not rock the boat confronting people who could make a difference but instead you anonymously pick fights on message boards with people who would rather try and correct something that is wrong. If I don't miss my guess you'll go far in life. Just don't speak up or try to make anything better. I expect to see big things out of you.

We moved to Wyoming late last summer and in less than a year, have had four outages long enough to spoil the food in our fridge. And every time, I look over to Maplewood and wonder why we can't switch to PSEG.

If this outage was preplanned (per the Patch article), a robocall to affected households would at least have given us a chance to save the food this time. Instead I came to Patch to find the mayor commenting that "the power should be back on and stay on" at the same time the JCP&L website was showing 1100 affected Millburn households. (Still 418 as I write this, 12 hours later.)

Not impressed by the mayor's rambling comments or her apparent inability to relay accurate information from JCP&L, let alone put pressure on them.