State Board of Public Utilities Makes Recommendations for JCP&L

Last month, a state Board of Public Utilities’ first report on Tropical Storm Irene singled out Jersey Central Light and Power for their poor performance during the storm.

Based on a series of meetings with officials and members of the public, the BPU has made several recommendations for how power companies, particularly JCP&L, can improve. , who addressed JCP&L shortcomings in a , say the recommendations are a good start, but should go farther.

“While all of the utilities experienced challenges during these severe weather events, it was apparent that JCP&L, in particular, was deficient in its storm restoration process, especially during Hurricane Irene,” according to the report. “Certain practices of the electric utilities, particularly JCP&L, must be reexamined and the planning and preparation scaled up to drive a higher level of performance, particularly in the area of communications, estimating outage restoration, supplemental crew mobilization and mitigation of tree related damages.”

When Irene swept across Jersey on Aug. 28, it left 1.9 million customers—nearly half of the state—without power. The October snowstorm on October 29 affected 1 million, mostly in North and Central Jersey.

The report says that in the eight meetings BPU held in response to the storm, “many testified as to the impact including spoiled food, loss of water service, cold showers, loss of telephone/internet, heat, and inability to pump water out of basements which in many cases caused flooding in homes.”

Many more people complained about JCP&L than about PSE&G or the smaller companies providing power in the state.

As a result of Irene, 40 percent of PSE&G’s customers lost power and 95 percent were restored within 98 hours. JCP&L, which serves less customers than PSE&G, saw 70 percent of their customers lose power and took nearly twice as long to get the lights back on for 98 percent of those customers. All JCP&L customers had their power back after 224 hours, while all PSE&G customers were back on the grid within 176 hours.

Unlike PSE&G and other electric utilities, JCP&L did not request or receive mutual aid utility crews or private contractors or before or after Irene hit. It did not have any outside help working in the state until “nearly a full day after the other utilities had their crews working.”

JCP&L reported that vegetation, usually tree limbs, created problems in 5,555 cases, more than twice the number PSE&G reported.

One hundred thirty nine customers contacted BPU to complain about JCP&L, four times more than those made against PSE&G.

The report lists numerous other problems with JCP&L: officials were frustrated by lack of communication from JCP&L and customers could not reach the utility; the estimated restoration times quoted by the company were inaccurate; JCP&L’s system design or maintenance or both may have contributed to the number of outages.

The BPU is expected to issue a contract to a consultant for a more in-depth examination of issues involving vegetation management, crew mobilization, communication and restoration prioritization during such storms. The consultant will be charged specifically with asking JCP&L tough questions.

The utility’s customers hope the next step in the process will be even more enlightening and lead to substantial changes that will keep the lights on, or get them back on quicker, in the future.

“I believe the BPU’s preliminary report is a very good first step in affirming the poor response and performance of JCPL and what municipal officials experienced during the late August and October storms,” Springfield Township Administrator Anthony Cancro said in an email. “The report does address three of the four concerns the Township submitted to the BPU in our September 13, 2011 letter: 1. conduct public hearings; 2.  Ineffective preventative measures such as tree trimming; and 3. better communications and storm recovery information to all parties affected." 

He added: “I wished the report could have addressed the our fourth concern about sustained investment of the JCPL infrastructure to ensure greater electric reliability. I am optimist the final BPU report will address this area.”