Mayor Brings Power Company Frustrations to Governor

For updates on this story, like the Millburn Patch on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Updated 4:06 p.m.

As the weekend approaches and the temperature drops, Jersey Central Power and Light has left Millburn township in the dark with no answers. 

Jersey Central Power and Light restored power to the Hartshorn school and many houses along White Oak Ridge Road around 3 p.m. Haimoff said.

However, company has not responded to the township with any plan or time line after multiple calls, Mayor Sandra Haimoff said on Friday. 

JCP&L is still assessing the damages while slowly restoring power, company officials said earlier this week and that's all the township has been told since then. 

The Patch has been unable to reach any official at JCP&L for comment since Wednesday.

The mayor brought the townships' complaints to the governor's office on Friday. 

"We can't get answers that we need from JCP&L," Mayor Sandra Haimoff said Thursday morning. "I was on the governor's conference call [Wednesday] night and they are flying in trucks and crews on air force planes but they are not specific to Millburn."

Millburn residents will be able to vote in the election on Tuesday though, without having to leave town, the mayor said. The Congregation B'nai Jeshurun, 1025 South Orange Ave. in Short Hills, is the proposed location.

On a lighter note, the restaurants in the Short Hills Mall will stay open tonight for residents to get a hot meal and warm up. The Millburn Police have issued a 6 p.m. curfew for all other businesses besides those restaurants.

"More roads are opening up every minute," Caption Michael Palardy said. "If the power could come on we'd be in good shape."

Electricity aside, the other issue on residents' mind has become where to find gas for generators and cars in this prolonged period of darkness. In response to residents' requests, here's list of what stations the Patch found open around the area.

However, the New Jersey Army National Guard Armory in West Orange opened to refuel police, fire and first aid vehicles to allow townships to operate, according to Fire Chief Michael Roberts.  

"We do have some challenges ahead of us," Business Administrator Tim Gordon said.

The township worked vigorously throughout the day on Wednesday and Thursday to clear roads and currently most main road are clear.

The township has turned its focus to Millburn's side streets. On Thursday, the township had five crews out removing trees and wires.

Only two of those crews are trained to remove wires and trees. These crews also have to rely on a JCP&L employee to confirm the wire is not active before the crews can remove it. 

"A crane has been brought in and trees are being removed from Mountainview and Undercliff that have fallen on houses," the mayor said. "They will then proceed through rest of town poles and lines fixed on Millburn Avenue."

The township had issues last night with the Chatham substation, which feeds Millburn, and are currently looking into it. 

"It's going to be a long and slow process," township officials said on Tuesday.

Business Administrator Tim Gordon explained the town is only responsible for township trees and clearing the roads. 

A Short Hills resident offered his expertise as a lawyer for residents' concerns about fallen trees.

JCP&L said it will revisit the 7-10 day estimate to restore power after the assessment of damage is complete. 

"The system sustained incredible damage," Ron Morano, a JCP&L official, said on Wednesday. 

The destruction far surpassed those during Tropical Storm Irene and last year's October snow storm, according to Morano.

The company has no specific time frame for each town, just the 7-10 day estimate to restore power to all its customers. It is restoring power during that process, yet the number in the dark is currently still over a million. 

According to the mayor's Twitter, JCP&L is working to fix the transformer that feeds Millburn. 

Residents will have to wait on JCP&L to return to normalcy, though.

The charging station at Town Hall has moved to Bauer Community Center in Taylor Park, open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Gero Park will also have charging station on Thursday and Friday. Charging is limited to cell phones.

Here's what's open around Millburn for residents. JCP&L is providing ice and water at the Education Center. More information to come.

Garbage and recycling collection will resume on Thursday. 

Millburn school district closed school for Thursday and Friday. 

Over 300 residents filled up Town Hall throughout the day on Tuesday charging phones, iPads, Kindles and computers. 

Residents should not put trees or debris at the curb because it will only make the clean up process later Gordon said.

According to the mayor, 90 percent of JCP&L's customers are out of power. In New Jersey, 2.5 million residents, 62 percent, are with out power as of 9 a.m., the Department of Energy reported.