About 100 Additional JCP&L Customers Without Power

With Wednesday's storm leaving another 100 JCP&L customers without power in Bridgewater, residents are beginning to get frustrated by the power company's response—or lack thereof.

JCP&L is reporting that 998 Bridgewater customers are without power as of Thursday morning, up from 888 on Wednesday.

In a statement on the site, the company said it is experiencing more outages because of the snowstorm.

"JCP&L is experiencing additional power outages due to the severe weather that passed through our service territory Nov. 7," the statement said. "Crews are working around the clock to return power to all affected areas, and an additional 1,600 line workers are arriving today to assist with restoration."

A representative with JCP&L did not immediately return a call for comment.

But with some residents going on 11 days without power, and others seeing it flicker out once again—in addition to Adamsville Primary and the Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School having to be closed Thursday because of additional outages—residents are just looking for some answers.

Resident Marc Steinberg saw his neighborhood around Washington Valley Road and Brown Road regain power on Tuesday—but he was not among the lucky few.

"When my neighbors and I called [JCP&L], they said linemen were still in the area and would put in a dispatch ticket since all streets around us have power," he said. "We were essentially promised yesterday, and when I called yesterday, they said they moved it to Sunday."

Steinberg said he told the company that he lives on a street with no downed wires or trees and fully intact transformers. Plus, he said, the neighborhood feeds off a line from Papen Road, which already has power back.

And when he called JCP&L Wednesday, Steinberg said, he was told there are still 700 people on the same circuit without power, but there was no explanation as to why.

"She couldn't explain why all the streets we tie into have power, but it is our circuit that is still down, and it will be restored on or before midnight Sunday," he said.

Right now, Steinberg said, Washington Valley Road, Well Court, Papen Road and Brown Road all have power, while he and his neighbors on Blair Court and Oxford Road don't.

"It is very frustrating to say the least, and their projections don't offer any comfort," he said.

As for PSE&G, as of 6 a.m. Thursday, there were 2,047 customers without power, a decrease from the totals on Wednesday.

It is currently projected that all of those outages will be restored by end of the day Saturday.

"In addition to Sandy outages, we are working to restore about 45,000 customers still impacted by Athena," said Karen Johnson, a spokeswoman with PSE&G.

But the expectations for restoration are little comfort to residents who are dealing with almost two weeks without power.

Mt. Vernon Road resident Sarah Bandomer Maslo noted that she is now going on 10 days with no power restoration from PSE&G, and other residents said the power went out again on Donald Drive and in Thomae Park.

Resident Norma Schultz LoConte said on the Bridgewater Patch Facebook Page that she believes there is a real fear among residents that the power will come back and then go out again, and that there will be a lack of communication for those neighborhoods affected.

"There was ... no one who will take accountability to answer our fears and questions and simply get the job done," she said. "When you get someone, you are pushed off on someone else, or get an electronic answer."

In the future, LoConte said, she believes there needs to be a more streamlined approach for all involved entities to finish the job more efficiently and timely.

"In times like this, someone should be the call person to go area by area in our immediate community, to make it more cohesive, to let our town people know what and where things are being done," she said.

"This could have been even worse," she added. "Who is fighting for us in Bridgewater, and keeping us safe?"