More Than 580 Crews Working to Restore Power to Jersey Central Power & Light Customers

MORRISTOWN, N.J., Nov. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) crews were joined today by additional utility workers from Wisconsin, Alabama and Kentucky.  These additional resources amount to more than 580 crews from across the country working to restore electric service to customers affected by last weekend's damaging snowstorm.  

JCP&L is on track to restore 95 percent of all customers affected by midnight tonight.  Additional customers who remain without service will be restored by midnight Friday, with some individual cases in the hardest-hit areas continuing into the weekend.  As of this morning, the company has restored approximately 300,000 customers – nearly 88 percent of all customers who lost power during the storm.  

"We've mobilized every resource available to achieve the service restoration goal we established with the Governor's Office," said Don Lynch, President, JCP&L.  "We have more than 580 crews focused on restoring customers as quickly and safely as possible, and will continue these efforts until all customers are restored."

Crews throughout northern New Jersey continue to respond to more than 25,000 damage locations as a result of the storm.  Crews have also cleared downed trees on wires in more than 6,400 different locations, and have responded to over 10,000 hazard calls to clear downed wires and make the locations safe.  Morris County remains the hardest-hit area in JCP&L's service area, followed by communities in Hunterdon County.

The outage totals include more than 2,000 widely scattered outages where individual customers may be affected due to localized damage to their property or home. For every electric utility, these customers are typically the last to be restored during a large-scale outage event.  

While JCP&L is responsible for bringing service to a customer's home, if there is damage to the electric connection to a meter, it must be repaired and inspected by a qualified electrician before crews can restore service.  To expedite this process, JCP&L is working with local community leaders to help notify customers who may need repairs before service can be restored.  

To report an outage, JCP&L customers should call 1-888-LIGHTSS (1-888-544-4877).  For updated information on the company's restoration efforts, go to www.firstenergycorp.com.  JCP&L will also provide updates via Twitter on @JCP_L.

JCP&L serves 1.1 million customers in 13 counties in New Jersey.

FirstEnergy (NYSE: FE) is a diversified energy company dedicated to safety, reliability and operational excellence.  Its 10 electric distribution companies comprise the nation's largest investor-owned electric system.  Its diverse generating fleet features non-emitting nuclear, scrubbed baseload coal, natural gas, and pumped-storage hydro and other renewables, and has a total generating capacity of nearly 23,000 megawatts.

SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.