COURT HOUSE – Atlantic City Electric held a media briefing call at 11 a.m. June 24 to provide an update on power outages, the restoration process and estimated restoration times.
Atlantic City Electric has launched its response plan in the wake of the severe storm event yesterday, June 23 to restore power as quickly as possible to its customers.
Crews worked through the night to restore service to customers who lost power as severe thunderstorms brought high winds, lightning and intense rain. While restoration work continues, crews are assessing the extent of the damage to the system. Although Atlantic City Electric has not yet determined when it is expecting to have power restored to the vast majority of customers, it is expected to be a multi-day restoration process.
Mutual assistance crews are coming from as far away as Ohio and New England to assist Atlantic City Electric with repairs. One hundred personnel from Jersey Central Power and Light are currently assisting in the restoration. Helicopters are being deployed to help with the assessment and restoration process. Assessment conducted thus far has revealed significant damage to several high-voltage transmission lines, five sub-stations and hundreds of poles and other system equipment. Damage to the electrical infrastructure includes 20 transmission lines and 372 wires downed.
“As far as outages go, we’re rivaling (Hurricane) Sandy,” said Lendel Jones, regional communications director for Atlantic City Electric and Delmarva Power.
According to Jones, Hurricane Sandy had 220,000 out of service. This storm saw 280,000 out of service.
Atlantic City Electric has restored power to over 100,000 of those affected customers in the past 13 hours since the height of the storm. Efforts continue to restore power to the remaining affected customers.
As to why power was knocked out before the start of the storm in Cape May County, “We had a lot of wind and it could’ve started taking down trees,” said Jones.
The Herald also received reports from Verizon Wireless customers having difficulty getting service, and making and receiving calls.
An outage map on downdetector.com showed Cape May County in the affected area.
New Jersey 101.5 talked to Spokesman Sheldon Jones who stated the problem was storm-related and was caused by a fiber cut, a break in a fiber optic line that carries data to cell sites, and that only wireless service was affected.
Cell phone service has since been restored.
The Herald live tweeted the media briefing call held by Atlantic City Electric. See those tweets:
Atlantic City Electric says 5 substations affected. A lot of trees came down on power lines, which makes the restoration project longer.
— Cape May County News (@HeraldNews) June 24, 2015
20 transmission lines and 372 wires down, according to Atlantic City Electric. About 80 Cape May County customers currently without power.
— Cape May County News (@HeraldNews) June 24, 2015
“As far as outages go, we’re rivaling (Hurricane) Sandy,” said Lendel Jones, regional communications director for AC Elec. & Delmarva Power
— Cape May County News (@HeraldNews) June 24, 2015
Hurricane Sandy had 220,000 people without power, according to Jones. This storm saw 280,000 out of service.
— Cape May County News (@HeraldNews) June 24, 2015
AC Electric says they’ve been able to restore about 100,000 customers. Hopes to have rest restored later this afternoon. Exact time unknown.
— Cape May County News (@HeraldNews) June 24, 2015
As to why power was knocked out before storm in CMC: “We had a lot of wind and it could’ve started taking down trees,” said Jones.
— Cape May County News (@HeraldNews) June 24, 2015
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PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
Atlantic City Electric crews are out assessing damage and making repairs after severe storms moved through the region and left more than 250,000 customers without power Tuesday evening, June 23. Crews worked through the night as they restored service to customers who lost power as severe thunderstorms brought high winds, lightning and intense rain.
According to Atlantic City Electric’s outage map, over 70,000 Cape May County customers were affected.
As of 9:30 a.m. June 24, there are about 700 customers still without power.
Damage is still being assessed, but several high-voltage transmission lines were affected. In addition to internal crews, Atlantic City Electric has contractors available. The company has also requested mutual assistance crews to assist in the restoration effort.
Atlantic City Electric urges customers to stay clear of working crews and any wires hanging loose from poles or lying on the ground. Customers should always assume that downed wires are energized and avoid them.
Customers can report outages by calling 1-800-833-7476, visiting atlanticcityelectric.com or through their mobile app, available for download at atlanticcityelectric.com/mobile app. It is important that customers report their outages and request a call back to verify their power has been restored.
The Herald has also received several reports from Verizon Wireless customers having difficulty getting service, and making and receiving calls.
An outage map on downdetector.com shows Cape May County in the affected area.
At this time, the cause of the outage is unknown.
