Kudos

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On Sept 18 I attended council meeting and I really should have taken some notes for this thread.

There was a topic that came up and I feel it necessary to give credit where credit is due.

A representative from the power company addressed the council in reference to power outages that had affected our town. Some people in our town lost power on a Saturday and did not regain power until that Monday. Some of these people really needed power for health reasons.

This representative stated that there was many power outages throughout the state. He did a good job of describing protocol during such emergencies. Without a doubt, it is a major challenge for the lineman to get power back up in a timely fashion. Naturally, many people will be affected by such an inconvenience.

What made all of this interesting, and why I am writing this, was how well Council President Sharon Shutzer conducted herself. She did most of the speaking for the council. There had been a comment made to a caller, from the power company, that sounded really bad. That caller was told that Freehold would be dealt with after Colts Neck. The way it came across sounded as if Freehold Borough is a second class citizen. Councilwoman Shutzer did a stellar job of defending our town and demanding answers for what appeared to be a comment in bad taste.

Beyond that, I was impressed with the concern that our residents got from not only the police department, but our Mayor and Councilwoman Shutzer. During the power outage, our elected leaders were there for people who were in need.

That meeting was well worth seeing in person. I can not truly write all that I heard there and have it come out on this board with justice. Our town government showed a fierce defense of our town and a passion that would be hard to match.

A public thank you to all who serve us, and especially Councilwoman Shutzer.

[Marc LeVine]

Brian:

It didn't end at that meeting for me, either. I was very unhappy with the patronizing and bureaucratic response we got from Mr. Ricciardi to our questions at that public meeting. And, YES, Councilwoman Shutzer was brilliant - throughout this whole situation, as it unfolded.

After the meeting I wrote to Mr Ricciardi for additional clarification. Three days later he responded to my email, which is included below his response to me. You can be the judge of the quality of his response.



Councilman LeVine,

It was my pleasure to address the governing body of Freehold
Borough on Monday night. There is no set number of days a customer could be without power that would generate a credit toward future usage. The reason for this is JCP&L nor any utility in the United States can control the weather.

There is no compensation given for loss of food or damage to appliances during storms. Residents can consult their home owners insurance policy to see what coverage they have. The customer charge is $2.18 per month. This charge covers the cost of generating a bill. JCP&L is still going to incur the same cost of generating a bill even if power was interrupted for a few days or longer.

JCP&L does have a claims department. Claims are paid if there was a negligent act on the part of the utility. Weather events,
equipment failure, vehicular damage and animal contacts are beyond the control of the utility and therefore not compensated.

I hope I have answered your questions.


Sincerely

Gerry Ricciardi


MY EMAIL TO Mr. RICCIARDI:


Mr. Ricciardi:

Thank you for attending last night's Freehold Borough Council meeting and discussing our town's recent power outages.

I asked a question that, I soon realized, was misunderstood by you. My fault. What I meant to ask was if JCP&L had ANY policy threshold, at all, in which some pre-agreed upon number days (without power) triggers a customer credit towards future usage and if there is any compensation consideration for spoiled foods or appliance damage resulting from an extended loss of power?

This was a followup to the question Mrs. Shutzer asked you about possible credits for the 8 residents with power out until that Monday. You responded that they were not entitled to any form of compensation. They were out of service for a little over two days.

You apparently thought my question pertained directly to direct metered usage and associated service charges. Of course, the meter would not be running during a power failure, but I was surprised to learn that some other routine service charges would still be billed for, however small they may be.

I wondered if there were any policy that credits folks for the
service they do not receive, after some pre-set number of days without service, perhaps, beyond the number of days our local residents had to endure? Say they were out 4 or 5 days, for example?

I ask this question, because at one time, I experienced a loss of CATV for three or four days and was credited by Comcast. I understand they credited me against the my regular monthly billing, but extended loss of power can lead to a costly loss of refrigerated and frozen foods (and medicines, baby formulas, etc.) and may also result in appliance damage, especially
during "brown out" periods during a storm. I would be very surprised if a resident losing $300 in refrigerated food or being forced into having a major appliance repair would not be eligible for some kind of remuneration.

Do you have a policy for this? Please let me know.

Thank you.

Marc LeVine
Councilman, Freehold Borough