BPU meeting in Byram on power company's response to storms
Staff REPORT
Byram — The New Jersey State Board of Public Utilities has scheduled the first of five public hearings as part of BPU staff’s investigation into the response of the state’s four electric companies to the most recent storms.
The first hearing will be held on Thursday, April 5 from 4 to 7 p.m.at the Byram Intermediate School at 12 Mansfield Drive, in Byram Township.
“We are moving aggressively forward with our investigation into the utilities’ storm response to the major storms we experienced,” said BPU President Joseph L. Fiordaliso. “Public input is an integral part of this investigation and I invite New Jersey residents affected by the recent outages to attend a hearing in their area.”
These hearings are open to the public and this is an opportunity for the residents affected by the recent power outages to attend and provide comment.
U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ5) expressed the frustration of many county residents with the power companies at a recent event in Green Township.
“There is mismanagement, there appears to be no strategy. And we have been through this before. We have had this conversation before. It’s like Groundhog Day,” Gottheimer said.
Written comments may also be submitted via email to board.secretary@bpu.nj.gov or in writing to Aida Camacho-Welch, Secretary of the Board, Board of Public Utilities, 44 South Clinton, Avenue, 3rd Floor, Suite 314, Post Office Box 350, Trenton, New Jersey, 08625-0350.
Those filing written comments should reference “March 2018 Winter Storm Events comments Docket Number EO18030255” in the subject field for emails and in the heading of any written correspondence. Comments will be accepted until May 31, 2018 pertaining to these hearings.
The second hearing will take place on Thursday, April 12, 4-7 p.m. at Parsippany-Troy Hills Town Hall 1001 Parsippany Blvd., Parsippany-Troy-Hills, Morris County.
Each of these locations is part of the JCPL service area which experienced the most outages for the longest period of time. One additional hearing will be held in this service area, in Hunterdon County.
The remaining two hearings are planned for Bergen County and southern New Jersey, areas which also were significantly impacted by the storms.