Officials Want to Hear JCP&L Horror Stories Monday

Mayor Chris Vergano is hosting a meeting Monday to discuss with residents their negative experiences with Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) during and after Tropical Storm Sandy.

The informal meeting will be held 8 p.m. in the council chamber in the municipal building. Vergano and township attorney Matthew Giacobbe will attend the meeting.

Officials plan on filling a complaint with the state Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to get JCP&L’s license to sell power in Wayne revoked. Residents will have a chance to sign the complaint at the meeting. 

“Our goal is to file a complaint not just as the township of Wayne but the township plus all the residents named individually to try and get our point across,” Vergano said.

JCP&L provides power to approximately 3,000 Wayne residents. Many of them were without power for more than a week after Sandy hit North Jersey. PSE&G provides power to the rest of the township.

Residents and officials heavily criticized the utility company in the days following what was called the worst storm in the state’s history.

The BPU is a state agency authorized to oversee regulated utilities that provide critical services such as natural gas, electricity, water, telecommunications, and cable television.

Officials created a petition online asking the BPU to revoke JCP&L’s ability to sell energy to Wayne residents. 

JCP&L has reportedly asked the BPU for a $31.5-million rate hike following Sandy, The Star-Ledger reported last month.

The proposed rate hike would mean the average residential customer would see their monthly bill rise by 1.4 percent, or $1.51 increase each month for a customer using 650 kilowatt hours of electricity.

State Sen. Kevin O'Toole (District 40), who worked extensively with Vergano and other local municipal leaders following Sandy, called JCP&L's rate hike request "insulting."

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