Despite promises by JCP&L that electricity would be restored to 4,300 residential customers in its service area in East Windsor Township by the end of the day, electricity has only been restored to 3,500 customers, East Windsor Township officials announced in a status update at 5 p.m. Aug. 6.
About 5,900 residential customers lost electricity when Tropical Storm Isaias barreled through the township Aug. 4, knocking down trees and taking down electrical wires with them.
At the end of the day Aug. 6, 2,400 customers of those 5,900 affected customers were still without electricity, according to JCP&L’s power outage status website.
East Windsor Township officials said they have been reaching out continuously to Gov. Phil Murphy, state lawmakers, the Mercer County Office of Emergency Management and to JCP&L to find out when electricity was expected to be restored.
Mayor Janice S. Mironov spoke directly to the president of JCP&L early in the morning Aug. 6 to seek a more expedited response and restoration of electricity to the township, officials said. She also expressed dissatisfaction with the company’s response and the lack of accurate information on restoration efforts, officials said.
The JCP&L president assured Mironov that electricity would be restored to the majority of affected customers, township officials said in a statement, but no specific details were offered as to which areas of the township would be restored Aug. 6 or when the remaining customers could expect to have electricity restored to them.
Meanwhile, the township has been providing charging stations for electronic devices around the clock at the East Windsor Police/Court building at 80 One Mile Road. Additional charging stations are available at the East Windsor Volunteer Fire Co. No. 2 firehouse at 69 Twin Rivers Drive, between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m.
Water for household needs also is available at those locations. Residents should bring containers for water, which is available from water hoses.
Wi-Fi Internet access is available in the parking lots at the Twin Rivers and Hickory Corner branches of the Mercer County Library System for residents who need Internet access.
Residents who are taking advantage of the charging stations, water filling stations and Wi-Fi access points must wear face masks and observe social distancing.
Several main roads are still closed, township officials said. This includes Old York Road between Windsor-Perrineville Road and Sharon Road, and Wood Road between Berwick Circle and Perrineville Road – both because of downed wires belonging to JCP&L, township officials said.
Route 33 between Davison Road and Maxwell Avenue also is closed because of damage to a transformer and utility pole.