Despite Gov's Assurance, Thousands Still in the Dark

there are thousands still in the dark in New Jersey, including 601 in just Monmouth and Ocean counties, according to the JCP&L outage map.

As of 3:15 p.m. Monday, there are 441 outages in Monmouth and 160 in Ocean and about 3,100 outages among JCP&L customers in the 13 counties it serves, the map shows.

In Morris County alone there are 739 JCP&L customers reporting outages.

PSE&G has 278 outages on Monday afternoon, including 19 outages caused by Sandy and 259 caused by the nor'easter.

Atlantic Electric has restored power to all customers who can safely be restored, said Frank Tedesco, company spokesman. He said there are 2,000 to 2,500 customers who cannot be safely restored due to flooding or structural damage to homes and meter boxes.

"Some of those homes may not even be there anymore," Tedesco said. "But as people return to the island and have their homes inspected, we will restore power as quickly as possible to those that can be safely restored."

In Ocean County, reported outages include 13 in Point Pleasant Borough and 31 in Point Pleasant Beach.

In Point Borough, tenants at a home on Route 88 report a damaged pole and an ongoing outage. Councilman Chris Leitner said he would try to find out when JCP&L is going to correct the problem and restore power.

In Point Beach, Patch has received outage complaints from residents at: 215 Central Ave.; 9 Beachcomber Lane; Sea Gardens Condominiums, 330 Route 35; 1603 West St.; and the Bay Point Condos on Maryland Avenue, just north of Bay Head.

Residents at all of the above locations report that the meter boxes have not been slapped with red stickers. If they had, that would indicate that the boxes have to be removed by JCP&L, replaced by private electricians and inspected by the municipality before JCP&L can restore power to those sites.

Patch has given addresses of those reporting outages to a spokesman for JCP&L, who said he is looking into it and will provide an update when they have it.

The JCP&L website says outages should be reported, but a number of local residents have complained that their reports don't lead to restoration or they are put on hold for long periods or cannot get through on the line.

To report a JCP&L outage, call 1-888-LIGHTSS (1-888-544-4877).

Patch will update local outage information for Point Beach and Point Borough as it becomes available.