UPPER FREEHOLD – In preparation for cybersecurity incidents that target the municipality, the Township Committee has adopted a response plan.
On Sept. 6, officials in Upper Freehold Township adopted a municipal security response plan for cybersecurity incidents. According to a resolution, the township did not have a formal written security response plan for cybersecurity incidents prior to the adoption of the current plan.
Committee members took action based on the recommendation of Upper Freehold’s insurance provider, the Municipal Excess Liability Joint Insurance Fund, which advised officials to formally document a security response plan to cybersecurity incidents, according to the resolution.
Township Administrator Dianne Kelly, who is also the chief financial officer, prepared a plan and presented it to the Township Committee.
As stated in the resolution, the governing body and Kelly believe it is in the best interests of residents to approve a written plan to ensure the integrity of Upper Freehold’s technical systems and information.
Municipal officials did not provide details of the plan that will be followed in the event of a cybersecurity incident.
In other business, committee members passed a resolution declaring Upper Freehold’s support for Jersey Central Power and Light’s (JCP&L) Reliability Plus project.
According to the resolution, officials have been informed the plan includes approximately $400 million in targeted investments above and beyond its regular annual investments to enhance JCP&L’s service reliability and resiliency and nearly 4,000 enhancements that will help the reliability and resiliency of overhead and underground distribution lines, as well as new equipment to reduce the number of customers affected by outages and shorten the duration of outages.
Officials have also been informed the plan outlines additional vegetation management to reduce the potential for tree damage, which is the primary cause of outages during severe storms in JCP&L’s service area.
JCP&L further expects the plan’s economic benefit to customers and businesses from enhanced reliability and resiliency will be $1.9 billion over the estimated life of the equipment installed through the program and estimates the initial increase on the monthly bill for an average residential customer would be about 25 cents, according to the resolution.
The resolution states the project will benefit residents and businesses in Upper Freehold Township and Monmouth County by making JCPL’s electric distribution system during storm and non-storm events more resistant to outages, and enabling the system to recover more quickly when outages do occur, and increase the distribution system’s resiliency, operational flexibility, safety and security and that the Reliability Plus project should be approved by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.