New JCP&L Area Manager Promises Changes

Nearly nine months after Hurricane Sandy knocked out power for a week and a half, a new area manager for Jersey Central Power & Light introduced himself to the Borough Council.

Michael E. Obremski said Wednesday he has been reassigned to the Hopatcong region from the Boonton region. The big change, he said, is that he will be in charge of 19 towns, instead of 44.

Obremski said the company made an effort to get area managers closer to the areas they supervise and gave them the authority to make decisions critical to the restoration of power during emergencies and communicate with customers.

Obremski, who has 26 years with the utility, said JCP&L was cutting down the size of districts in response to complaints about communications during Sandy. The company will be adding two more area managers shortly, he said.

His job will be to actively engage company line crews and employees, act as liaison to the officials in his 19 towns, and improve the communication between the company and its customers.

"This will be real-time communications,” he said. “I’m here to fill the gap.”

JCP&L was harshly criticized for its performance during Sandy, as well as its performance in other storms going back two years.

Obremski said the company has revamped its approach, and that change will be evident in several new programs.

The company has created a new “road opening” program to let towns know when construction will take place, and will begin training for first responders to provide the police, fire and medical crews with the knowledge necessary to safely provide services in areas of downed wires and other storm related situations.

The company’s website will have a new “My Town” link which will allow residents to see information specific to their town, including progress on repairing outages, he said.

Efforts to improve the company’s social media dependability has resulted in easier access to services such as Facebook and Twitter, and a smart phone app will allow two-way texting for customers, he said.

Mayor Sylvia Petillo told Obremski that one of the key issues during Sandy was the inability to get power restored quickly to five or six critical facilities, including borough hall, the high school and the senior center.

She said she was glad that Obremski’s territory was reduced in size. The inability to get information from the utility during the storm was compounded by the inability to reach Hopatcong’s area manager.  Instead, she said, her calls were answered by people unfamiliar with the borough or even the region.