Update: Power Still Out for Many
Is your power back on? Let us know.
Update with some street estimates: 1:45 p.m., 10:30 p.m.
Is your power back on yet? For a lot of you, that answer will still be "no," but Jersey Central Power & Light says most will come back on today.
According to JCP&L, of the close to 1,300 households still without power at noon, they estimated that they would have about 1,100 of those back up today.At 10:30 p.m., the company's website map indicated there were 332 people still without power.
Approximately 200 households won’t be back until tomorrow, and now, according to JCP&L’s day-by-day estimates for the town released early this afternoon, 46 households will get power on Saturday.
Some towns have received street-by-street estimates, but Millburn has not received this yet. So if your house is back up, let us know in comments and we can start seeing where they are working. (Patch will continue to try to track this down.)
Millburn Mayor Sandra Haimoff said she wanted a list like that but the JCP&L manager assigned to Millburn didn't have a complete list for the township because there are just too many streets. When Haimoff pressed him this afternoon, she said, he gave her the following information:
Around Chatham Road, 22 homes should get power today, as should 50 homes on Woodland, 11 on Martindale, 50 around Highland and Parsonage, and the entire stretch of Hobart. Residents on Dogwood and Pine should get power late today or Friday and Beechcroft will be Friday, he told her.
And despite the company's own estimates on its website that 46 homes will have power restored on Saturday, he told her that everyone else should be back up by Friday, except for maybe one or two homes.
"It depends on who you talk to as to what information you get," she said. "This is what I was told. But I cannot guarantee this information."
Many residents have complained that they are still without power - for some it has been five days without power after with this autumn snowstorm and it was nine days after Irene. Many residents report this morning that they still have seen no crews working on their streets, even though they have wires down and trees in the roads.
Meanwhile, school children are back at school, except for Glenwood and Hartshorn, who have the rest of the week off because of the hazardous conditions around their schools. It is still not determined exactly when they will make those days up, but Superintendant Crisfield says it will most likely be two partial days on Saturdays.
JCP&L could not be reached for comment, but has stated on its website that the town should be 100 percent back up by Friday and then updated its estimates to say 46 families will get power back on Saturday.
Residents don’t believe that, and yesterday, a worker was dubious of that as well – there is such extensive damage and many lines to fix. So many trees came down on individual lines, and company officials say residents need to bring in electricians to fix connections to the home that are damanged.
Meanwhile crews sit at Livingston Mall waiting for directions for where to go from to fix problems.
The historic pre-Halloween storm wreaked havoc in Northern New Jersey, leaving millions in the dark, making a mess of trick-or-treating or, in some towns, canceling it altogether, and leaving the schools with no "snow days" left in the calendar.
Patch will bring you updates as we get them, but meanwhile, let us know – are they lights on at your house yet?
If they're not on yet, the Millburn Library offers a welcome respite with charging stations, books, quiet and heat.
Patch Fan
12:04 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
Adams Ave. has no power...
Laura Griffin
12:07 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
BTW, about two minutes after I posted this, JCP&L updated its estimates. Now, they say, 46 households won't get power til Saturday. I have put that in the story.
JJSH
1:10 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
The document that has this information also states that as of midnight on 11/3, 301.8 SH customers will still be without power. How is it possible that only 20% of a customer have power?
SH Patch fan
12:13 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
285 Long Hill has no power
Leslie
12:13 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
The area near Hartshorn Drive (the western part), Western Drive, Oxford and Cambridge got its power back yesterday night. That is decent progress considering that earlier the same day there were still fallen trees resting on the wires and totally blocked roads. I wonder whether this means nearby Hartshorn school was also restored, in which case we can start second-guessing the decision to close that school tomorrow.
JB
12:20 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
Glen Ave from brookside down to the last house before the library is out. Thanks Laura for offering to compile outages. I called the police dept on Saturday to suggest they do this for 2 reasons: 1) since JCP&L seems to be cancelling outage reports & 2) for security purposes since some there are not even street lights. Also suggested it to Robert Tillotson this morning. Additionally, my wife spoke to a rep from congressman frelinghuysens office who said jcpl has provided our township leadership with street by street power restoration. I emailed Tim Gordon to see who has it but no answer from him.
Laura Griffin
12:39 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
I have spoken to folks at Town Hall and they don't have it. (Believe me, they would like to post this on the town's website, too.) The congressman might be thinking of Springfield or some other town. But I continue looking....will post if/when I get it!
Alex
12:31 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
At 9:00am apartment complex on Woodland was still out - not sure about 12:30pm, since I'm at work.
Jaleh Teymourian Brahms
12:34 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
In light of the recent power outages due to downed trees/winds in both Irene and last weekend's storm- is it really too cost prohibitive to move the power lines underground?
MarkDS
1:40 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
Yes. Most estimates are a minimum of $1 million per mile to do so.
Leslie
1:41 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
"is it really too cost prohibitive to move the power lines underground"
I am sure it is cheaper for JCP&L to respond ad hoc to these once-in-a-few-years situations with their existing resources than to pay to bury their entire distribution system. This is because they do not suffer the indirect costs of a lengthy power loss (inconvenience, loss of home use, food spoliation, loss of at-home work time). The residents bear those costs directly, without recourse or compensation. I doubt we would all agree to pay our share for the cost of burying the lines around town, but perhaps those costs could be detailed for our consideration. I suppose JCP&L loses some revenue for the power that they otherwise would have delivered to all these homes for a week, as well as all this overtime pay and crew diversion, so they have something to gain but I doubt they care about much about those things.
neanderer
2:06 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
Lots of debate recently on this topic. Good to see people questioning why utilities are above ground. America is one of the few countries that has utilities above ground.
Not sure where estimate of $1M/mile is derived, but it isn't cheap. Question is how much money is JCP&L paying to bring numerous crews in to work 16 hour days, pay overtime, lodging, per diem, etc.
Example from San Diego has average cost per mile at $766,666 to bury utilities.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070726/news_1n26under.html
North Carolina examined burying utilities in 2003 and found it would cost $41B (six times the value of the utility system). http://www.ncuc.net/reports/undergroundreport.pdf
Just two examples, but it shows the cost is prohibitive to bury the entire system. Would make more sense to bury utilities in areas that are prone to service interruptions.
MarkDS
2:10 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
This is where I got the figure of a minimum of $1 million per mile:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/22/nyregion/22towns.html
Marty Wilson
5:38 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
It would only cost a $1mill/mile if you use overpriced, union labor. If we were a right to work state, it could probably be done 2x as quick, 3x as efficiently for 1/4 the cost. Go unions go...
Leslie
5:58 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
This line from the Times story kills the idea for me: "Underground systems do not last as long, problems are much harder to detect and take longer to fix, and underground systems can be more susceptible to damage from some storms — floods, for instance — than aboveground ones."
It would mean that when there is a problem, they're going to have to dig up the town to find it, and it'll take longer. At least now you can easily spot the problems (tree in wires, wires hanging down) and can fix it by running a new above-ground line. We should make the investment in better disaster response.
SHChristine
12:39 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
South Terrace does not have power.
P_R_PC
12:42 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
Why don't we have this?
Laura, have you seen this? From New Providence...JCPL.
http://www.egovlink.com/public_documents300/newprovidence/published_documents/General/New%20Providence%20-%20Outages%20By%20Street.pdf
Laura Griffin
1:06 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
Yes, I have seen it for New Providence and Springfield and a few others in Union County but NOT for Millburn/Short Hills, yet.
JJSH
1:07 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
I called JCP&L specifically asking for this list for our towns and they told me no such list exists at JCP&L. They were also fairly rude and told me if we did not like the estimate being given for my individual area, please contact the BPU.
tatyana ali
12:47 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
Just because Springfield posted a street by street list with estimated dates, doesn't mean they actually stick to that schedule. We're currently renting an apartment in Short Hills Village, which is in Springfield, and according to their list we were supposed to get power yesterday. Still without power today.
Laura Griffin
1:07 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
Good point.
Alex
1:40 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
It's Short Hills Club Village that's in on Short Hills Ave in Springfield. Short Hills Village is on Woodland Rd in Short Hills. No power there as well though.
P_R_PC
1:59 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
Very true - but it goes back to what I have been saying since Irene - our town needs to COMMUNICATE with it's residents - which means, they need to get more information from those that control the content...via any means possible. Have town offices been to the FirstEnrgy offices in Morristown - they need to push them hard for info...real info.
20yearmiller
1:00 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
JCP&L has proven for the second time that they drag their feet in crisis situations. Don't know that PSE&G would be any better for the township. After Irene it took PSE&G 5 days to begin clean up and repair of the down wires and trees on Wyoming Ave. JCP&L wouldn't touch it because Wyoming is a county road, and PSE&G had Wyoming at the bottom of their priority list. I have no doubt that within the next couple of months at least one of our local politicians will take the lead and create a plan for situations like this. The township official that comes up with a solution will endear themselves to the community and most likely will be elected and re-elected for many years to come. I see no reason to give JCP&L a strike three scenario. It's hard to blame those in office as I know they've been getting the runaround and have been given mass amounts of misinformation. However, if no crisis plan is presented to the township in the near future, we the residents will take it upon ourselves to clean house and elect people that will get the ball rolling in the right direction. In the meantime, it's been almost a week and people are still cold, and in the dark! I don't know our options, but I feel we must rid ourselves of JCP&L and go in another direction.
K
1:55 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
Windermere Terrace and Lakeview Avenue still NO power
MominSH
1:59 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
The list of homes makes no sense. There is a single home on Chatham Road. Not 22!
Laura Griffin
2:13 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
Homes around Chatham Road that would get power on the same grid.
Lisa Kathleen Ryan
2:03 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
203 White Oak Ridge Road has a live wire down on our property and no power. JCP&L said Friday it will get but I'll believe it when I see it. I saw 2 trucks near Hartshorn School yesterday.
Laura Griffin
2:11 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
Here are a few street estimates the Mayor received from a JCP&L manager today (added to the story also): On Chatham Road, 22 homes should get power today, as should 50 homes on Woodland, 11 on Martindale, 50 around Highland and Parsonage, and the entire stretch of Hobart. Residents on Dogwood and Pine should get power late today or Friday and Beechcroft will be Friday, he told her. (Although the Mayor says she gets so much misinformation from the power company that she cannot guarantee the info. But it is good to know what the township is being told vs. what you see happening on your street.
Laura Griffin
2:16 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
Some of these can be homes in the area that get power from the same grid/lines.
APK
3:10 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
Still no power on Sherwood Road -- any update for our area?
neanderer
3:12 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
Here is the estimated numbers from First Energy as to when Millburn/Short Hills will have power restored. Doesn't say where these people are though.
https://firstenergycorp.com/content/dam/customer/get-help/files/Town_ETR_Estimates_Nov3_1130_explanationadded.pdf
holly simons
3:18 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
no power on Tulip :(
alexaqui
4:00 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
Is there any way we can organize a class action lawsuit against the company? Judging from the sorry state of the lines before the storm (i.e., no tree trimming whatsoever), I wonder if there is some form of negligence involved. We should organize something. I would love to not pay my bill, except the only thing that will accomplish is calls from a collection agency and a hit on my credit score.
Sara
6:03 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
Short hills club village on forest drive is still out. Jcp&l is a joke. This apartment complex is so old and unkept- it loses power at least once a month. I would NOT recommend renting in these ghetto apartments!!!! The owners could care less- until they are served with a fat lawsuit for rodents, unkept living conditions and zero accountability.
monique
8:15 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
It's 8pm on Thursday - still no power on Nottingham Rd. The lack of communication is ridiculous. We need to know what is going on so we can properly care for our families. There must be some recourse we can take.
Stacy Krieger
9:25 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
No power at Woodfield and Oakey and no hope in sight. JCPL team watching a smoldering line on the ground today said they need to order a new pole but the old one isnt one of their poles, etc. You have to be kidding! Put in a new pole (six days ago would have been nice!!) and move your lines over. You can figure out who owns the old pole later! Pathetic response...
Alex
11:08 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
Got power back in Short Hills Village apts on Woodland/Chatham some time this afternoon.
APK
11:21 pm on Thursday, November 3, 2011
Still no power on Sherwood Road and Stewart Drive. Difficult to believe JCP&L's number that there are only 322 homes without power at this point.
tatyana ali
8:07 am on Friday, November 4, 2011
Sara, I agree! Can't wait to get out of this dump. My house in SH is almost done.