Mayor of N.J. town wants to fire utility for poor performance

The mayor of a New Jersey town is asking the state to revoke Jersey Central Power and Light’s franchise to provide it with power.

After Hurricane Irene, Robbinsville Mayor Dave Fried said PSE&G did a good job in restoring power to the half of the town it serves. However, he said JCP&L failed to meet several of its promised deadlines to get power back in the other half.

“They told me they have six crews working on the situation and at that point I informed them that I was on their site and there was no one there,” Fried said. “At that point they told me I was not allowed to be on their site.”

Fried has filed a complaint with the Board of Public Utilities seeking to compel JCP&L to immediately upgrade its infrastructure and improve its communication with the town.

“We should have the ability to protect all of our residents and treat all of our residents fairly,” Fried said. “It’s very frustrating when a resident sitting on one side of the street has no power while he’s looking at his neighbor’s house and the lights are on.”

In the long run, he’d also like PSE&G to be the sole provider for the entire town.