Belmar Mayor Matt Doherty is asking residents still without power to bombard JCP&L with phone calls until the lights come back on.
Ten days after Hurricane Sandy, only 30 percent of town has power, Doherty said. That is "unacceptable," he said.
"Like you, I am very frustrated with the current situation with our electric and heat. However, I appreciate how much the community is coming together to help one another at this time," Doherty said in a release.
Doherty asks residents to call JCP&L at 888-544-4877 until the borough has power.
"If you do have electric and heat and have a neighbor who may not be as fortunate, please invite them into your home," Doherty said.
Warm clothing, blankets, food, medical supplies, over the counter medicines and firewood are available at Borough Hall, 601 Main Street. If you cannot make it there, the borough will deliver to you. Please call 732-681-3700.
If you need water pumped out of your basement or cleaned out of debris, please call 732-681-3700.
There are three streets that are open with checkpoints from Main Street to Ocean Avenue. They are Fifth, 11th and 12th Avenues, Doherty said.
7 to 10 days was the original estimate. Clearly JCP&L lied, did nothing to add smart grid elements to their system, and now will have people freezing. Leaving transformers in low lying areas (it's called a platform, look it up), not stocking parts, etc. – bottom line – they lied. At the very least JCP&L should offer battery back-ups, at cost, for customers to run furnaces. Bottom line: it's time the state of NJ take over JCP&L, and turn it over to a new not-for-profit run (to start) by retired utility and Army Corps of Engineers experts.
Oh and by the way, count your blessings you still have a home where power can be restored. Too many other people don't have a home to return to.
They can't meet their promise and didn't prep for the storm. Worse, still, I can't just go to their website and enter my address to see if my place is on the grid again. It's time for JCP&L to lose their license to operate in NJ. Period.