More than 11,000 Union County residents and JCP&L customers are still suffering without power after this week’s storm, including children, seniors, and people with disabilities. Some of our residents have not had power since the previous storm hit last Friday, a full eight days ago. Our schools and businesses are also impacted. And yet, days after offering false hope of a quick resolution, this morning JCP&L informed us that they do not expect most power to be restored in Union County until next Wednesday.
JCP&L’s failure to respond effectively to this storm borders on criminality. It is an absolute break of faith with the company’s status as a power monopoly, and it is inexcusable. It is plain that leadership at the company is unprepared and unqualified to meet the demands of a modern, resilient power grid. This debacle goes to the highest levels of JCP&L’s parent company, FirstEnergy and its CEO Charles E. Jones. I join with Governor Murphy in calling for a full investigation of JCP&L’s planning and emergency response systems and I urge that this investigation include FirstEnergy’s management and oversight. This must never happen again.
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