PSE&G Storm Update – December 25, 2020 4:00 p.m.
Update:
- Strong winds and hazardous gusts throughout PSE&G’s service territory caused downed trees, branches and wires. As of 4 p.m., approximately 5,800 of our 2.3 million customers were without service. The majority of those customers are in Bergen County.
- More than 85,000 customers, representing more than 93% of the customers affected by the storm, have been restored.
- “We are shifting crews to Bergen County from other areas that were not hit as hard,” said Jack Bridges, PSE&G’s vice president for Electric Operations. “Losing power is always a hardship, more so with today being Christmas. We are working as fast as we can to restore service to those affected, and we thank our customers for their patience.”
- PSE&G employees have forgone holiday vacations and are working safely and as quickly as possible to restore power to the customers without power. PSE&G has brought in additional crews to help expedite restoration efforts. In total, PSE&G has over 1,500 workers – linemen/women, technicians, contractors, tree and other mutual aid crews – dedicated to the restoration effort. An additional 150 mutual aid line workers will join the effort tomorrow.
- PSE&G anticipates that most, if not all, customers affected by the storm will have their service restored by Saturday night. However, a few outages may carry over into Sunday morning. See PSE&G outage map for updates. The restoration process is four steps: assessing damage, clearing roads, restoring emergency facilities (hospitals, fire stations, etc.), then restoring equipment serving large numbers of customers and, finally, restoring single outages.
- In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, we have adapted our storm and safety procedures to follow public health guidelines and industry best practices. We thank our customers for their patience as we operate under these unusual circumstances to safely restore power as quickly as possible.
Customer Safety:
- 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.
- Electric current passes easily through water, so stay away from downed lines and electrical wires. Don't drive over – and don't stand near – downed wires.
- Downed lines will be hard to see in the rain and can potentially be hidden in standing water. If you encounter large pools of standing water, stop, back up and choose another path.
- The safety of PSE&G’s customers and employees is the company’s top priority. We ask that customers remain in their homes while crews are working nearby. If customers must speak with our crews, we ask that they practice responsible “physical distancing” and remain at least 6 feet away to ensure the health of everyone involved. For more information about how PSE&G continues to live up to its commitments during the pandemic, please visit https://nj.pseg.com/safetyandreliability/safetytips/coronavirus.
Stay connected with PSE&G:
- The new PSE&G mobile app enables customers using Apple or Android devices to securely and easily manage their accounts when and where the customers want to be served.
- Include PSE&G Customer Service 1-800-436-PSEG in your list of emergency phone numbers.
- Go to outagecenter.pseg.com to check the “Outage Map,” which is updated every 15 minutes with PSE&G outage information, and to register for MyAlerts to receive text notifications.
- You can report an outage by texting “OUT” to 4PSEG (47734), or via Google Assistant or Alexa.
- “Like” PSEG on Facebook and follow PSEG on Twitter @PSEGdelivers.
Other important safety notes:
- If you experience “no heat” or are having trouble with your heating appliance, please make an appointment by calling 1-800-350-PSEG (7734) or schedule online at nj.myaccount.pseg.com.
- 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.
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PSE&G
Public Service Electric and Gas Co. (PSE&G) is New Jersey’s oldest and largest gas and electric delivery public utility, serving three-quarters of the state’s population. PSE&G is the winner of the ReliabilityOne Award for superior electric system reliability. PSE&G is a subsidiary of Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (PSEG) (NYSE:PEG), a diversified energy company. PSEG has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for North America for 12 consecutive years.