If the rate hike will go towards improvement of the infrastructure then I say go for it.

Of course they never used the money over the years to upgrade. Why should they when all they have to do is ask for a hike to upgrade. I had no power for 13 days. A company from Illinois made the repairs.

The money we pay now goes into their pockets while they sit in their trucks and talk, drink coffee, and eat their donuts! Just like my towns Sanitation dept when they are supposed to be plowing the roads.

Lanie
Maybe if they upgraded somethings we would not have bee 14 days without power!

There you go...."free market solutions" in action. I wonder what First Energy's CEO earned in 2012 and what the year end bonus will be.

Where is our representative Rodney? Does he do anything other than sitting on his butt?

write a letter of complaint to: Board of Public Utilities, 44 S. Clinton Avenue, 7th Floor, P.O. Box, Trenton, NJ 08625; or file a complaint on web site
www.bpu.state.nj.us or Call the main number 609-777-3300 or request a complaint form and fax it or fax a letter to: 609-777-3330 Lisa Honecker, Mayor Honecker's wife, Bernardsville, NJ

I'm thinking those who voted "Yes" to the requested rate hike in the poll above
are employees of JCP&L!

JCPL is in harvest mode by 1St Energy for all the profits they can take in. It is not the crews that are at fault but the senior management. NJ Legislatture should pass a law putting the management team of any utility that fails to serve its clients in a holding cell without heat, or electricity , cold food, no showers until power is restored. Mayor Koch used to do this to the slum lords in NYC and it worked. Time to subject the JCPL execs to the same scenario that the citizens of NJ have had to endure 3 times in less than a year.

Thanks to Lisa H for the fax number of the BPU.

First Energy Top Executives Salaries YE 2011:

Mr. Anthony J. Alexander , Chief Exec. Officer, Pres and Exec. Director...$4.28M

Mr. Mark Tanner Clark ,Chief Financial Officer and Exec. VP...$1.71M

Mrs. Leila L. Vespoli Esq.,Exec. VP and Gen. Counsel...1.31M

Mr. Charles E. Jones Jr., 56, Principal Exec.... $1.1M

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=FE+Profile

When First Energy took over JCP&L the first thing they did was cut the work force and cut infrastructure improvements for NJ. That is the essence of the "Free Market " for essential services. It is a disgrace but the BPU lost control of how they operate. This isn't about Congress. It is about our legislators and I haven't heard a word from our own Senator Pennachio or our Assembly people.

Many Morris County officials have voiced their displeasure with Jersey Central Power & Light following Hurricane Sandy, municipalities are exploring whether it's possible to switch utility providers.

The reason why it took JCP&L so long to restore power is because our state was the last on their list of priorities. They took care of Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, and the other states they serve first, and as they finished the other states they began to trickle down to NY first and then NJ. Here's an idea...Why doesn't JCP&L raise the other states that get red carpet service from them and while they are at it they can kick in our half too. I would be all for paying an increase if it went into the pockets of the men and women from all over the US and Canada that came to help us while JCP&L dragged their feet.

Another reason it took so long is the MBAs, and other business executives who run a business based on nothing but dollars and cents have slashed maintenance and rank and file workers like there is no tomorrow. GM and Chrysler ran their car companies like that also, and they needed government bail outs to survive. Ford Motor Company run its business with an eye towards the mightily dollar and cents too, but first as a car company and that is the very reason why they didn’t need bailed out and continue to be a successful car company! If you want a better power company, put the people who know how to run a power company in charge and tell the MBAs and other business executives to take a back seat in the accounting department where they belong!

Wake up folks. The power companies are excuse factories. They have no incentive to perform better because there is no threat that they might lose their contracts. The BPU? Seriously? Who appoints that board and who are the people on the board and what is their agenda? Can they be removed? Replaced? By whom? Certainly not be citizens of the towns who waited for weeks to have power restored. Where is the accountability? It's nice that everyone yells and screams, but in the end, nothing changes. One year to the day after a horrific response to a Halloween snow storm, the very same utilities with the very same contracts reacted the very same way to the hurricane. If you think any of this is going to change, or that anything will be done to prevent rate hikes, then you are exactly the kind of sucker the BPU and the power companies laugh at when they read these pathetic posts. Mark my word - rates will go up, service will continue to be lousy and politicians will do nothing about it.

Where were all the politicians in September/October (BEFORE the storm)?! Typical politicians...they are reactive rather than proactive. Monday morning QB comes to mind and a very easy and "safe" position to be in. Hardly any had a plan, knew what to communicate and were caught off guard like almost everyone. Sick and tired of these political people bashing the utilities after the fact. A true leader would have done something years and decades ago to avoid some of the problems we all experienced. Where have they been?!

I will say it again, we were told to prepare for 7-10 days without power. Mine was out for a loooong time, but I am not bitching and I prepared and dealt with it. This was a huge storm with a chunk of the NE without power (see satellite map of NE in the dark). That should help you comprehend the magnitude.

I'm a volunteer too and also tired of babysitting down wires or responding to a bang from a transformer.

First of all I want to say a big THANK YOU to all the volunteers who spend countless hours away from families/friends to help others. Without you we would be in dire straights. From what I could see after Sandy it was those same volunteers, churches and ordinary people who were the first to pitch in and help their fellow citizens in need. The government (FEMA) and the Red Cross (where does all the money go?) were virtually AWOL for a long time. Aren't those same organizations supposed to be mobilized immediately or even BEFORE devastation hits? If we are supposed to be "prepared" why not them? It took days for the National Guard to me deployed and then only to the shore. Why wasn't the Forest Service used to remove downed trees immediately? A huge tree blocked off Pleasant Hill Rd for a full 10 days. I find it hard to believe no one in the DPW, Police, etc could have removed it before then. I totally agree with Ed Campbell's idea of requring utility companies to pay a penalty for making the volunteers babysit. Unfortunately you can't regulate human nature and those same utility workers will still stop for refreshments as they are "on the clock" when they are stopping at Quick Check on their way to work. In the end the added cost will always be shifted to the rate payer.

I think the attitude of most corporations is: Screw the customer as long has we can produce bigger returns for our stockholders. The reason this is allowed to happen is because corporations buy your legislators and administrators at every level of government.

The real reason is that electric and gas companies treat their customers like s**t is because they have a monopoly on the area, so you have no choice but to use them. If you heat your house by oil, it’s a whole other story. Since you can choose which company supplies your heating source, they have to provide you with quality service, otherwise you’ll go elsewhere.

If you think Sandy was bad hang on to your hat, because our government has allowed our weather satellite system to fall apart to the point we might not even know another Sandy is coming till it hits us! I Kid You NOT:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/27/us/dying-satellites-could-lead-to-shaky-weather-forecasts.html?_r=0

And we are actually willing to trust these idiots with our Health Care. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???

The government takeover of the healthcare system is a huge mistake. Does anyone actually believe there will not be waste, fruad and abuse in any government run system? The better alternative would have been to curb the current waste, fraud and abuse like they have been promising for years yet it never happens

A rate hike , they need to be specific as to what its for, what capital improvments are going to be made where and when, thats what i would ask.