By Karl Vilacoba
Staff Writer
Unimpressed with the company’s solution to a stray voltage problem in Brick, the Township Council gave Jersey Central Power and Light (JCP&L) a shock to its own system.
The council passed an ordinance on first reading that would install a zero-tolerance policy for any detectable stray voltage in the ground. If it passes a final vote at the Aug. 26 meeting, the ordinance would levy a $1,000 per day fine on the company for any measured reading above zero volts.
The ordinance was spearheaded by Councilman Leon Mowadia, a former lighting supplies dealer who replaced the resigned Steven Cucci on July 8.
Mowadia proposed the ordinance after visiting the Driscol Drive home of Gary Smith a few days earlier. Mowadia described for several minutes how the stray voltage problem disrupted the Smiths’ everyday life. The family is in a position where inviting guests over is a legal liability, and selling their home would be impossible once the problem is disclosed to a seller, Mowadia said.
Stray voltage, or neutral-to-earth voltage, is an extraneous electrical current that appears on grounded surfaces (such as wires, pipes and soil), in buildings and other structures, according to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) Web site.
JCP&L has reduced the measure of stray voltage significantly since Smith first reported the problem about a year ago, Mowadia said, but it’s still far from safe. Mowadia described placing his hand in the Smiths’ hot tub with a stray voltage reading of 1.5 volts and feeling a "warm, tingling" sensation not attributed to the water.
The proposed fine may not sound like a lot for a major corporation, Mowadia said, until you consider that a year’s worth of violations would equal $365,000.
"It fines them $1,000 a day until they solve the problem. We need to put their feet in the fire," Mowadia said.
Council Attorney Scott Kenneally said he believed the fines could hold up because they are a matter of public safety.
"I would be willing to litigate that issue," he said.
Smith said "it’s about time" public officials took up the issue of stray voltage, which has been reported around the nation. About 25 other neighborhood families contacted him with similar stories of electric shocks since he first described his problem to several media outlets a year ago, Smith said.
"Being that Leon’s only been a councilman for two months or so, I appreciate his enthusiasm," Smith said.
The ordinance was followed with two related resolutions. None of the three items was placed on the official meeting agenda.
In the first resolution, the council demanded that at least one Ocean County resident be appointed to the BPU Board of Commissioners. The resolution was proposed by Councilman Stephen Acropolis, who noted, "home rule does matter." Currently, no BPU appointee is from south of the Raritan River, distancing them from what problems may be occurring in the southern half of the state, Acropolis said.
The Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders recently passed a similar resolution as a response to power blackouts on Independence Day weekend.
The second resolution, proposed by council President Kimberley Casten, calls for JCP&L to send representatives to Brick for public hearings on the stray voltage matter.