JCP&L Boss Promises Better Communications

After dealing with utility representatives and supervisors for information for nearly a week, local officials vented to JCP&L CEO Donald Lynch about the company's lack of clear communications.

The message was delivered by the officials during a phone conference  held at 3 p.m. at the Summit City Hall, and included Assemblyman Jon Bramnick, Assemblywoman Nancy Munoz, and elected officials and residents from about 10 area towns.

According to Township Committeeman Vic Sordillo, who attended the meeting with Christy Drive resident Jack Henschel, Lynch promised to provide the mayors of towns still dealing with power outages with a direct phone number to call for more current information on efforts to retsore service.

The meeting was underway as Warren Township Police, including Chief of Police Russell Leffert, were scouring the neighbors still without power in search of work crews promised by company representatives.

Chief Leffert said about 40 streets in Warren still lacked electrical service. Police officers were delivering water and food to some of the residents, and checking on elderly residents to make certain they were OK.

Although a few neighborhoods have had service restored since this morning, the company estimates 430 Warren customers still do not have power.

The meeting follows a day when residents reported receiving "Robo-call" messages notifying them of work crews dispatched to their neighborhoods, or of imminent service restoration.    

Sordillo aid he had walked through some of the affected neighborhoods last night, delivering water and asking how residents were faring.

"A lot of people have left town," he said. "This has been going on for nearly week and that's just unacceptable."

An earlier posting of this article incorrectly reported the location of the conference as Bramnick's office.