JCP&L Hearing Arranged by Bridgewater Woman

After requesting a meeting with JCP&L President Don Lynch, Gov. Chris Christie and BPU President Bob Hanna, Bridgewater resident Neha Pallod Limaye confirmed Thursday that there will be a town hall meeting Dec. 7 at the JCP&L offices in Morris Township—although those officials may not be in attendance.

The public meeting will be held at 9 a.m. at the offices on Madison Avenue.

Limaye said she is asking residents, officials and others to go to the JCP&L offices, and is hoping the requested officials are present.

"We have no confirmation from anyone," she said. "The messages have been sent through contact forms on their websites and phone calls to their offices. If they fail to attend and tell us they never received these messages, then that's proof of their contact systems failing."

Limaye had initially started a petition to get JCP&L out of Bridgewater, and also created a Facebook group to bring together people who were disappointed by the performance of the power company following Superstorm Sandy.

And from there, Limaye said, she put together an email to be sent to the three officials to request a meeting to get answers on management and future plans for dealing with these kinds of storms.

Limaye has put together a Facebook invitation to encourage anyone to attend the Dec. 7 meeting, and she is also asking that JCP&L customers post questions to the Facebook event that they would like asked during the town hall meeting.

"We understand us being out of power for a few weeks is not as devastating as the destruction faced by many around the tri-state area," she said in the invitation. "However, as paying customers of JCP&L, we have the right to know what went wrong during restoration and what measures will be taken to rectify the process in the event of another storm/disaster."

According to the invitation, JCP&L representatives have reached out to local communities and said they would be willing to meet with local councils and residents, and would suggest dates.

But, Limaye said in the invitation, no alternative dates have been communicated, so the members of the Facebook group intend to be present for a town hall on Dec. 7.

"I know, though, that JCP&L knows about this meeting," Limaye said. "[Bridgewater] councilman Matthew Moench has spoken to John Anderson from JCP&L, who proposed three rounds of meetings [with officials and residents]. So the messages are out there."

Limaye is asking all JCP&L customers, local mayors, council members and other officials from townships across New Jersey to attend.

And from there, Limaye said, with residents in attendance, they can only hope the officials will show too.

"We are going ahead," she said. "If they don't show up now or don't contact us now, that's just another big failure on their part."

Click here to read the invitation.