New Jersey's elected officials are working hard to make sure residents aren't left in the dark during emergencies... and they need your help!
We learned a lot from Hurricane Sandy this past November. Record breaking power outages throughout New Jersey put our utility companies to the test. The New Jersey Utilities Emergency Preparedness Initiative is advocating, from the grassroots local level, for state-wide legislative fixes to ensure our utility companies are better prepared for the next storm, and that the incredibly hardworking utility workers and first responders have the tools they need to keep their communities safe and get them back online.
We need to improve
- The Communication Practices By Utility Companies
Residents and local governments need better, more reliable and consistent information about what's happening during emergency situations. - How Outages & Restorations Are Managed
We need to work with our County Office's of Emergency Management to improve how utility companies assign and handle jobs, especially critical fixes and especially when using out of state workers. - How We Invest In Our Power Infrastructure
We need to invest in more in our infrastructure, from substations, to pole construction to proper vegetation trimming to reduce the number of lines that go down during extreme weather conditions and improve the redundancy of our grids.
These municipalities are already on board
- South Orange, Essex County [READ THE RESOLUTION]
- Maplewood, Essex County [READ THE RESOLUTION]
- Red Bank, Monmouth County [READ THE RESOLUTION]
- New Milford, Bergen County [READ THE RESOLUTION]
- Garwood, Union County [READ THE RESOLUTION]
- Haledon, Passaic County
The Latest
- 01/11/2013 — Garwood passes resolution asking for utility accountability
- 12/29/2012 — NY Times - Hurricane Sandy Alters Utilities’ Calculus on Upgrades
- 12/19/2012 — NJ.com - Mayors use social media to push for utilities improvements after Sandy
- 12/17/2012 — NJ.com - Butler official: Municipal power companies outperformed larger utilities during Hurricane Sandy
- 12/13/2012 — NJ.com - Power companies in NJ called onto the carpet
- 12/12/2012 — NJ.com - Utility company heads dispute 'F' grade on post-Sandy communications
Questions?
For more information, email Contact@NJUtilityPreparedness.com
Ask Your Elected Officials toTake a Stand
If you're a concerned resident, download and email a copy of the sample resolution to your township clerk and ask they distribute it to their governing body for consideration. Mention that several towns have passed resolutions already.
If you're an elected official, download a copy of the sample resolution and bring it to your governing body asking for their support in finding state-wide legislative solutions.
The more local governments that add their voices, the more likely we are to see real solutions.
Download thesample resolution Find your local govt. contact information
Spread the Word