The Trenton Times published the following article on April 10, 2013. To read the full article, click here.

Mercer County officials will join effort to block JCP&L rate increase

By Jenna Pizzi/The Times of Trenton 
on April 10, 2013 at 8:30 AM

TRENTON — Mercer County officials will join an effort to block a rate increase for Jersey Central Power & Light in order to force the power company to upgrade its infrastructure and improve customer service.

At a freeholder meeting last night, county administrators said there have been serious power outages at the Mercer County Correction Center in Hopewell Township that have not been addressed fast enough. They intend to join an appeal before a Board of Public Utilities administrative panel that is deciding whether JCP&L should be granted a 4.4 percent rate increase.

“Every year, during the summer, there are brown outs and power outages,” said county administrator Andrew Mair.

Many towns across New jersey have complained bitterly about the level of service they get from JCP&L, particularly in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy last year.

Mair said the outages in Hopewell have damaged equipment at the jail. Last summer, when there were thousands of power outages throughout the state in the wake of Sandy, the jail and the surrounding area in Hopewell, which are serviced by JCP&L, were without power for more than a week, even after power was restored to other areas of the county.

“There was a protracted outage even though we thought (the jail) should have been a priority,” Mair said. He said the administration believes that getting power restored to the jail should have been a higher priority for the power company.

JCP&L has said the rate increase would help to cover the more than $600 million in expenses incurred as a result of the storm.
The freeholder board will vote on Thursday to hire an attorney to represent them in the administrative hearings, with the hope that the BPU will mandate that JCP&L invest in infrastructure improvements, rather than passing profits on to shareholders, Mair said.

JCP&L is a subsidiary of the publicly traded FirstEnergy Corp. of Akron, Ohio.

Many towns across New Jersey and in Mercer County have joined forces to bring pressure on JCP&L. “The only pressure that we could have on JCP&L is to be party to this litigation,” Mair said. Those include Hopewell and West Windsor, have asked the BPU to intervene in JCP&L’s application on their behalf.

Mair said the county looked at trying to get a different power company to take over the service area from JCP&L, but learned that it would be quite difficult to achieve.

“We talked to a competitor,” he said. Fighting against the rate increase would have a “much higher probability of success,” Mair said.

The freeholder board will vote to approve a year-long, no-bid contract for up to $30,000 with the law firm Bevan, Mosca, Guiditta and Zarillo of Basking Ridge, which will represent the county in the rate dispute. County attorney Sarah Crowley said the firm has experience working with the BPU, which the county’s attorneys do not have.

The freeholder board passed a resolution earlier this year, expressing disappointment in JCP&L’s inability to communicate with county officials and customers as well as the lack of investment the power company has made to its infrastructure.

Contact Jenna Pizzi at jpizzi@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5717.