1. NewsRoom

PSE&G Storm Update – August 7 - 9:45 AM

Update:

Restoration Progress & Customer Promise

  • PSE&G has restored power to more than 90% of customers affected by Tropical Storm Isaias by this morning. This exceeds our previous goal of 85% by Friday. 
    We understand how frustrating it is to be among the customers that are still without power.  Our crews are working 16-hour shifts and around the clock to restore every customer as soon as safely possible.
  • PSE&G’s commitment to get everyone’s power on as safely and as quickly as possible is not a promise we take lightly. It is what our teams focus on from the minute we get the outage notification to the time the power is restored. 
  • With so many customers working from home and with others unable to go out, our customers depend on us now more than ever. Our repair crews are up to the challenge and dedicated to restoring customers as quickly and safely possible. We encourage our customers to report their power outages. If you haven’t done so already, please contact us immediately. See how below.
  • As of 9:45 a.m., PSE&G has made significant progress and restored power to about 525,000 of the 575,000 customers whose service was interrupted by Tropical Storm Isaias. The outage map reflects all customers currently without service, including those who lost power because of the tropical storm. For example, those whose service was interrupted by yesterday’s thunderstorms.
  • PSE&G estimates that Tropical Storm Isaias is the fifth most destructive storm in history and the most severe since Superstorm Sandy.

 

Commitment to Communication

  • Communicating with our customers during storm events is a priority and PSE&G has adjusted its work force to support the extremely high number of incoming questions or outage reports from customers. We have sent 5.2 million emails and 1 million texts to customers with preparation tips and restoration updates.
    • On the day of the storm, our call center received as many calls in one day as we do in an entire month.
    • To date our customer service representatives have handled roughly 500,000 calls. 
  • We have pulled in extra teams to make over 3,000 personal phone calls to customers answering questions or following up on unresolved issues as well as reaching out to our critical customers and customers who require electricity to power life sustaining medical equipment. 
  • The social media team has five times the amount of people than on a regular day and they responded to 14,000 customer issues. Typically the team would handle about 450 issues in a four day span. 

 

Restoration Information and Resources

  • This morning, we have added an additional 100 mutual aid workers, bringing our total work force to 3,400 dedicated to the restoration effort. This includes additional tree crews and lineworkers from 15 states and Canada, who are up to the challenge of getting your power back on.
  • PSE&G’s remains deeply committed to the health, safety and well-being of our customers, employees and the communities we serve. In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, we have adapted our storm and safety procedures which has slowed our restoration efforts. We thank our customers for their patience as we operate under these unusual circumstances.
  • Some difficult restorations will continue through the weekend — possibly into Monday. Crews are working 24/7.
  • PSE&G urges customers who have not reported their power outage to do so directly, ASAP. A neighbor’s report does not cover the next address as neighbors can be on different electric circuits. We appreciate our customers’ patience and want them to know we’re working as quickly and safely as possible to restore power.
    PSE&G Customer Comfort Stations are open available in our hardest hit counties.  To-date we have given out 175,000 bottles of water and 87,400 pounds of ice. Following physical distancing and state health guidelines, customers can receive free water and ice at those locations. Please check PSEG Energize! for most current locations and hours of operation.
  • The estimated times for restoration customers see in our outage map are based on a number of factors including damage assessment, weather hazards and road conditions.
  • As individual jobs are completed, work plans are optimized and restoration times are adjusted. Some times more than one repair is needed to restore a customer’s service.
  • If customers are signed up to receive alerts, they will receive an automatic update about the change. 
    In terms of restoration, we must take many factors into consideration including road hazards and weather conditions. When restoring power, crews start with priority customers – such as hospitals, emergency services (police and fire stations), and power facilities – then move on to the circuits serving the largest number of customers.

 

Stay Connected with PSE&G

  • PSE&G encourage customers to stay connected with us throughout the restoration process. Receive status updates, updated estimated time of restoration or report a new outage:

 

Important safety notes:

  • Downed wires should always be considered “live.” Stay at least 30 feet away from downed lines and immediately call PSE&G at 1-800-436-PSEG (7734) or 911 to report downed wires.
  • To prevent carbon monoxide poisoning, do not run any gasoline-powered generators in a garage or any other enclosed space.

 

If you are on life-sustaining medical equipment, ensure that you alert PSE&G in advance and notify your local police and fire departments. For more information, visit www.pseg.com/life.