UPDATE: 90% of Power Restored in Borough

Madison police report that, as of 5 p.m. this afternoon, about 90 percent of power has been restored to the borough.

An announcement from the Madison Police Department added, "Electric and DPW crew swill work until exhausted to restore the remaining 10 percent."

JCP&L restored power to the Kings Road substation around 2 p.m. and  power began being phased in throughout the borough .

Mayor Mary-Anna Holden said that, even if no additional problems occur, borough schools will remain closed tomorrow and Halloween activities will be held Friday, Nov. 4.

JCP&L Spokesperson Ron Morano reported that there was damage to the feeder line that provides power to the substation. “There was a lot of damage that had to be repaired,” he said.

JCP&L had 13 substations affected by the storm and there are still substations that have to be brought back on line, Morano said. JCP&L estimates that it had 370,000 customers affected by the storm.

When asked if there is anything that could be done to minimize the outages in the future, he said, “This was a bad storm.”

Holden said she had requested that JCP&L inform her prior to power being restored so the borough could shut some things down and avoid any surges. Holden said she did not receive any notification, adding, “Again, a lack of communication.”

She explained that one feeder line was operational and the Kings Road substation was being energized and sending power to the other substation in James Park. After that, power will be phased in “and then we could see where there may be other problems,” she said.

The mayor said she was not aware of any major problems that have arisen as a result of the power failure.

“We have been very proactive. We know where there are people to check up on and where there are folks that use oxygen,” she said. “We took food to the seniors, who were staying close to keep warm.”