Politics & Government
Power Restored Slowly, but Surely, in Verona, Cedar Grove
According to PSE&G officials, about 148,000 customers are still without power in Essex County.
Officials in both Cedar Grove and Verona said Wednesday progress is being made to restore power in both townships.
In Cedar Grove, 1,300 homes came back online Tuesday starting around dinnertime and continued throughout the night Mayor Peter Tanella said Wednesday.
Approximately 3,500 Cedar Grove homes are still without power and PSE&G has been working continuously to restore power to those remaining homes, he said.
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Power was restored to Cedar Grove Town Hall, but township offices will not open until Thursday, Nov. 1. Power has also been restored to several businesses in the downtown area.
Recycling and waste collection will resume a normal schedule, said Tanella.
Find out what's happening in Verona-Cedar Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“The DPW (Department of Public Works) is going through neighborhoods to pick up branches,” said Tanella. “If you have branches on your property, please cut them to four-foot length and put them on your curb for the DPW.”
In Verona, power was restored to Verona High School and the senior complex on Hillwood Terrace, as well as several surrounding streets.
“We are down from about 85 percent to about 75 percent of Verona without power,” said Verona Office of Emergency Management Director Jeff Hayes on Wednesday.
A media conference call with officials such as PSEG CEO Ralph Izzo was held on Wednesday morning.
According to Izzo, at the peak of power outages about 1.5 million PSE&G customers were without power. As of Wednesday morning, 900,000 homes remain without power.
Power has been restored to Newark, Elizabeth and parts of Jersey City and Hoboken. Newark Airport and many New Jersey hospitals are also back online.
“An enormous amount of work has yet to be done,” said Izzo.
Their restoration focus is now shifting to smaller communities and cities, he said.
148,000 customers are still without power in Essex County, said PSE&G officials. On Tuesday Oct. 30, that number was around 255,000.
“Most of what we have been seeing has been expected except for the magnitude,” said Izzo. “We've got crews out there with folks from as far away as Florida, Texas and a number of different locations.”
“We absolutely have enough equipment,” he said.
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