Township Committee Set To Vote On JCP&L Measures

The Township Committee on Wednesday is set to vote on three pieces of local legislation targeting the state’s second largest utility company.

The first is an adapted version of a resolution being passed in numerous towns in Monmouth County. It outlines 10 suggestions to make JCP&L a more responsive company, culled from a meeting attended by officials from several Monmouth County towns and held in Tinton Falls on Nov. 19, according to Jeffry Bertrand, township administrator.

The second is the codification of a strongly worded open letter sent by Mayor Jeffrey Foster and the Township Committee, Bertrand said.

The letter called JCP&L’s response to the storm “atrocious’’ and suggested that the company institute a Incident Command System, similar to the training required of all volunteer firefighters.

“As elected officials, our patience and understanding has run out,’’ the letter says. “Just as with the previous storm events in 2010 and 2011, the response to Hurricane Sandy by JCP&L was atrocious.”

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The Township Committee is scheduled to meet at 7:30 p.m. at town hall, 2700 Allaire Rd.
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The third resolution in the works will call on the Board of Public Utilities, the state agency that regulates utility companies, to exercise stronger oversight, Bertrand said.

JCP&L, amid widespread criticisms from towns all over New Jersey, petitioned the BPU for a $31 million rate hike recently. If approved, the average JCP&L customer’s bill would rise about 1.4 percent overall.

The move has been met with staunch opposition.

State Sen. Peter J. O’Toole, R-Bergen, sent a letter to the BPU requesting an immediate denial of the rate increase.

“The state’s second-largest utility has no shame,” O’Toole said in a release. “Its parent company has raked in a $149 million increase in net income over last year, as the utility failed to adequately serve ratepayers in the aftermaths of Hurricane Irene and Sandy. Their application to suck more out of our residents’ pockets is utterly offensive.”