Tens of thousands of people were without power in New Jersey Friday, and it's apparently due to road salt wreaking havoc on electrical equipment.
PSEG officials said about 40,000 customers were without power at the peak, primarily in northern and central New Jersey.
In Union County alone, about 25,000 customers were in the dark. The outage there is being attributed to weather-related damage to circuits at PSEG's switching stations.
Power has since been restored to many, with about 10,000 people without electricity as of about noon.
Power company officials said the rain and condensation, mixing with residual salt on roadways and walkways, compromised equipment.
There is no estimated time of restoration for those without power in Union County.
This outage is not connected to another in Morris County, in which a blown transformer left more than 15,000 customers in the dark Friday morning. The cause of that incident is under investigation.
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Blown transformer causes power outage in Budd Lake, NJ
Friday, January 12, 2018
BUDD LAKE, New Jersey (WABC) -- A power outage caused by blown transformer appears to have left more than 15,000 customers in the dark Friday morning.
A transformer blew at International Drive and Route 46 in Budd Lake.
Some 15,083 customers are without power in Morris County.
The cause is under investigation.
County College of Morris posted a delayed opening due to the power outage.
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Mass Power Outages Cause NJ School Closures, Shelters In Place
Fires apparently caused more than 50,000 people to lose power Friday, causing schools to either delay openings or declare shelters-in-place.
JCP&L and PSEG officials said transformer fires overnight in Woodbridge, Mountainside and on Route 22 in Union County, as well as a substation issue, were possibly the causes of the outages.
Road salt reportedly was one culprit, causing damage to PSEG's switching stations, according to company officials. The rain and condensation, mixing with residual salt on roadways and walkways, compromised equipment.
The power companies said they were working to fix the problems, and expected to have them resolved by mid-afternoon. Heavy rain apparently was impacting their work, and more was expected.
Menlo Park Mall in Edison, home to a regional Apple store, apparently was in the dark on Friday.
Power company problems were also happening at Newark Liberty International Airport:
Please let us know in the comment section if your school's schedule changed.
Lodi also said it had a delayed opening until 9:30 a.m. because the power was out.
"There are widespread power outages being reported throughout the city and surrounding towns," said Maryann Capursi, a Passaic School Board commissioner. "Our students are safe in their classrooms, and instruction is continuing. The buildings are on a modified lockdown to ensure their safety. We are in contact with the city and PSEG, and will provide updates when we have more information."
In Newark, Public Safety Director Anthony F. Ambrose reported that a number of Newark schools and neighborhoods have reported power outages due to today's heavy rainfall.
The list of schools experiencing outages include:
- Central High School (which has declared an early dismissal)
- Cleveland Elementary
- Avon Ave. Elementary
- Camden Middle Elementary
- Barringer High School
- McKinley Elementary
- Brank Brook Elementary
Authorities said many streets may be flooded because of the rainstorm and should be avoided. Because motorists can become stranded by driving through flooded streets and high water, drivers are asked to avoid these locations and to use alternative routes.
Many of the outages were in Union County, meanwhile, where more than 20,000 customers of JCP&L and PSEG were apparently in the dark.
In Morris County, more than 15,000 residents were without power at one point, with 20 of the county's 39 towns impacted.
At 11:45 a.m., many counties were still reporting outages. Here were PSEG's totals: