PARSIPPANY — The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities will hold a public hearing on Thursday, April 12 at Parsippany Town Hall regarding the Matter of the Board’s Review of Major Storm Events of March 2018.
The purpose of this hearing is to solicit public comments regarding the state of preparedness and responsiveness of the electric distribution companies prior to, during, and after the March 2018 winter storms.
“BPU has officially begun its thorough investigation into the recent power outages, as ordered by Governor Murphy,” said NJBPU President Joseph L. Fiordaliso. “We applaud Governor Murphy for making power restoration improvements a priority and BPU will do everything we can to ensure New Jersey residents experience significant improvements during future storms.”
President Fiordaliso convened a meeting of his senior staff in which he directed them to begin the investigation immediately.
The series of meetings comes after Governor Philip Murphy promised an investigation into utility companies’ handing of the outages.
Additional hearings will be scheduled and details will be provided in separate notices. Each hearing will focus on service provided by the State’s electric distribution companies.
Members of the public are invited to attend as many hearings as they wish.
The hearing will be held from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., in the Council Chambers located at
1001 Parsippany Boulevard.
Written comments may also be submitted via email to board.secretary@bpu.nj.gov or in writing to Aida Camacho-Welch, Secretary of the Board, Board of Public Utilities, 44 South Clinton Avenue, 3rd Floor, Suite 314, Post Office Box 350, Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0350. Please reference March 2018 Winter Storm Events comments -Docket Number-EO18030255 in the subject matter for emails and in the heading of any written correspondence.
Comments will be accepted until May 31, 2018, pertaining to these hearings.
In addition to hearings, the Board will closely review the more than 100 utility storm protocols it implemented following Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Irene to assess whether these protocols were followed during the recent storms and where improvements should be made. In particular, the BPU will be reviewing mutual aid assistance protocols to ensure New Jersey utilities make restoring power in New Jersey their first priority.
There is also another public hearing planned for Thursday, April 5 from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Byram Intermediate School, 12 Mansfield Drive, Stanhope.
