NORTHWEST, N.J — Powerful winds Friday knocked out power to more than 75,000 customers across northern New Jersey during the height of the wind event, according to Jersey Central Power & Light.
As of Saturday morning, more than 23,000 customers remained without electricity in JCP&L’s service area. Outages at that time included more than 6,500 customers in Warren County, more than 5,000 in Sussex County, nearly 5,000 in Morris County, more than 4,000 in Hunterdon County and more than 500 in Somerset County.
JCP&L said the outages were caused by high winds that brought down trees and damaged electrical infrastructure, including high-voltage transmission lines connecting substations.
“We’ve had a number of instances where the higher voltage lines that run from substation to substation have been impacted by the winds and trees coming down because of that substations and the neighborhood power lines that they feed have lost power,” said JCP&L spokesperson Chris Hoenig in a video posted Friday night.
“We do have crews working around the clock,” he said, adding that more than 750 line workers are engaged in restoration efforts.
In a statement, JCP&L urged residents to remain cautious around downed lines and damaged equipment.
“Crews are working as quickly and safely as possible to assess damage and restore power following high winds. As crews clear hazards, stay alert for downed or low-hanging power lines! REPORT DOWNED POWER LINES ASAP to 9-1-1,” the utility said.
The company advised residents to stay at least 30 feet away from downed lines, assume any downed line is energized and dangerous, use extra caution where lines are tangled in trees or debris, never attempt to remove debris from electrical equipment, and never drive over a downed power line.
Customers who have not reported an outage are encouraged to text OUT to 544487 or report outages online at firstenergycorp.com/outages. Those not signed up for outage text alerts can text REG to 544487.
