Borough of Point Pleasant – After multiple phone calls with the government liaisons from Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) throughout the night and this morning, I have some news to report to our residents.  First, let me explain that by me saying I expressed my displeasure to JCP&L would be a drastic understatement.  At some point as with any major storm, there are hearings by the NJ Board of Public Utilities (BPU) and State of New Jersey Officials to go over how operations were handled.  Rest assured, I WILL be at these hearings.  It is my understanding that the BPU orders utility companies like JCP&L to restore the largest number of customers first then work its way down.  This on top of existing outdated infrastructure from JCP&L is not a good formula for our almost 20,000 residents here in Point Pleasant Borough and I along with several small-town Jersey Shore Mayors will make our voices heard.

On that note, as of 11:30 AM this morning August 6, 2020, out of the 9,984 electric metered homes and businesses serving our almost 20,000 residents in Point Pleasant Borough, 2,418 remain without power.  In Ocean County as a whole, approximately 20% of the entire County is still without power.  It has been explained to me that we here are fed through a combination of the Woodland Avenue / Route 88 Point Pleasant Borough substation, the Point Pleasant Beach substation and the Herbertsville Road Brick Township substation.  All of these substations are now live as of this morning but are operating at limited capacity.  Crews are working on them at the moment along with broken poles and downed wires.  It is expected that once these substations are fully repaired, our entire town along with surrounding Point Pleasant Beach will be back online.  JCP&L has not given me a timetable on this work, but it is expected that it could last until the weekend.  I am continually pressing them to speed up the time table.

For the time being, weather permitting, our First Aid Department, Office of Emergency Management and CERT Team have been setting up tents with charging stations for residents’ devices.  Please follow their respective Facebook Pages for info when they are operating these facilities.  I have also asked JCP&L to bring a free ice and water station to Borough Hall in Point Pleasant similar to what they have set up in supermarkets in the larger towns, often out of reach for our residents.  These supplies will be free to residents but are not in an infinite supply, I thank them for making this accommodation for our residents.  When the supplies arrive, we will make a separate announcement to let our residents know when they can pick them up.

The Borough Council and I are in constant contact with JCP&L.  Our problems here at the moment are not germane to Point Pleasant, but we still must make our voices heard.  I refuse to let our Boro be overlooked and will continue to press JCP&L officials.  I also encourage residents to still report power outages and downed wires to the following contact numbers:

  • Text OUT to 544487…
  •  Online at www.jcp-l.com
  • Use the JCP&L smartphone app (iPhone and Android)
  •  Via the “Report an Outage” tab on the JCP&L Facebook Page (http://statictab.com/h8vmadifrom a mobile device)
  •  Call 888-LIGHTSS (888-544-4877)

On behalf of the Borough Council, I would like to thank our Police, Fire, First Aid, other emergency personnel and our Public Works Department for all they are doing clearing debris, directing traffic and handling various emergencies this storm has brought upon us.

I thank all of you for your patience and understanding, it is more than appreciated.  Thank you all for making ‘The Boro’ such a special place.

Stay well,

Mayor Robert A. Sabosik