Your Power Outage: What's The Hold Up?
Crews are quickly filling the city being staged at Monmouth Park and more lights are coming on every day. But, what about your house?
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You've seen the crews pouring into Monmouth Park with license plates from all over the US. And you've seen the lights come on at your neighbor's house. So why is it taking so long to get your bulbs lit?
One answer could be New Jersey's strict rules.
"It's your regulations that are hurting you," said lineman John Friman of Texas based energy company, Oncor. "We can't run a line across a parking lot with out police being there. Every state is different, but it's the regulations you have here that are hurting you. We could have had this job done already."
Friman and the crew he works with travel the country when disaster strikes and stay until the lights come back on. He's been in the business for 34 years, but never worked in New Jersey, and definitely not worked through freezing temps during a hurricane. He and another lineman named Carlos left Texas on Monday and first arrived in Maryland to work, before they were reassigned here.
The spent their first couple of nights in Oceanport sleeping in their truck, which seemed a better option than the Storm Services bunk units, trailers that sleep up to 30 workers. Tonight, he said, they will gratefully sleep in a hotel.
He points across the parking lot at a fleet of government utility vehicles - row after row after row - parked inside the gates of Monmouth Park. All these trucks, which just rolled into town, he said, work on transmission lines. Once crews arrive they head to a central tent and are briefed on regulations and the plan of attack.
This lineman couldn't tell us just when our porch lights would come, but he did say we would see more progress with the arrival of these most recent crews.
We asked Friman just how electrical crews were being received in town. He said some crews said, "People hadn't been too nice," but his experience was different. "I had somebody leave boxes of Dunkin' Donuts in our truck to say, 'thank you'. That makes a difference," he said.
"It's hard though," he said, "I've been on both sides of fence."
If there is some more indication of how residents feel about the nomadic electricians, who have come to serve our tiny towns, it's just outside the racetrack. Hanging on the fence of the JCP&L staging center are two banners, made by the White family of Oceanport and their friends. One reads, "Jersey Strong" and the other "Thank U 4 Your Help!"
Steve
10:49 am on Tuesday, November 6, 2012
To bad you don't vote here. You could contact Mr. Curley as he doesn't quite understand the nonsense that goes on with trying to help people get there electric back on. Hopefully he will read this and stop playing politics
Claudine Scozzari
11:33 am on Tuesday, November 6, 2012
New Jersey has strict rules because it is not the JOB of the infrastructure professionals to NOT intentionally place the lineman from Texas working for Encor in harm's way.
Construction is a very dangerous industry, and the Accountants, Lawyers, and Big Banks who want everything done NOW place the lives of the construction workers in this State in danger with their lack of concern for human life.
Steve
11:50 am on Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Hi Claudine
Not quite sure what you are trying to say. This business man has been doing this for 34 years, I certainly would trust him rather than any accountant, lawyer or big bank. Bottom line he could help people getting their light a lot faster.
Bob Stevens
1:58 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Way I hear it most police departments are going out of their way to help these crews from out of state. They have been escorting them through traffic, goudinmg them on unfamiliar streets, and trying to make their jobs easier, not harder. There are no regulations requiring a police officer there when you run a line. There are no regulatioons requiring any police officer to do anything having to do with power lines. You might need a police officer if you are running a lime across Route 35 or 36, but only to stop traffic for the time it takes to run the line.
Claudine Scozzari
2:15 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Does the Public Safety Department under the Attorney General's Office know their JOB FUNCTION?
Bob Stevens - There are portions of your comment that really scare me.
Claudine Scozzari
2:18 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2012
The utility worker has been employed by a utility company providing electrical utility service through main lines and service connections on public right-of-way or utility easements denoted by property records recorded in the equivalent of the "County Clerk's Office" maintained by the Sheriff's Office.
It is the job of the Office Engineer in the presiding jurisdiction to know where the utility lines are supposed to go. I have been working with the State's Utility Mains for many of the State's Utility lines as it pertains Enron property, AT & T Property, American Water Co., etc. and in 2 other States since 1994.
And, in most jurisdictions (I am very unfamiliar with Monmouth County) in the State of New Jersey, I can do it without a map. And, of course being in the industry and familiar with the Texas based companies, this GENTLEMEN probably understands the lack of paper involved with the utility grid of this nation.
I would hope that the New Jersey workers from the NJDOT and the various other Utility Company Property/Asset Owners could direct someone from the Mid-West in what Assets need repairing.
Any idiot can fix a line. But, you want the lines from the substation to withstand the next rain event. There are substations in this area that were blown after work was completed on various "Stimulus Package" projects. And, these areas haven't lost power in more than 40 years, as I recall. (having grown up in Western Monmouth County)
Shannon K. Winning
2:24 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Update - Mayor Mahon posted this to residents last night: Daily conference call with JCP&L: Progress made restoring power with repairs to substations and sub-transmission yards. Crews are working entire circuits completing repairs before energizing lines. Patience continues to be called for as utility personnel numbering near 11,000 (3x Normal staff) work as safely as possible. Local repair sites today according to JCP&L include Branchport Ave., Turf, Horicon, Wolf Hill, Comanche, & Cayuga Ave. Several poles remain down but with main sub-station & sub-transmission sites returning to service (nearly a dozen remain out of service) local sites will see more focus.
Our fingers are crossed as daily contact is maintained with our JCP&L area manager and status and concerns shared. The scope of the damage resulting from Sandy is extraordinary. Monmouth Park is a base camp for this repair effort and Oceanport is host to several thousand linemen from as far as California and Washington State.