Update: Final Push for Power to Run Through the Night

Let there be light. Well, for most of us.

The town received final word from John Anderson, with JCP&L, Tuesday evening that "the final staged restoration efforts to address the remaining power outages in town will commence at 10 p.m.," according to a Nixle.com alert from the Morristown Police Department at 7 p.m.

"Town Officials were advised that ... the restoration efforts will continue throughout the night," according to the release from Capt. Steven Sarinelli. "We thank all residents for their patience and cooperation during this difficult time."

As businesses began to reopen and residents in Morristown , Mayor Tim Dougherty said that almost the entire town should have power before the end of the night.

He did stress, however, that there are still a number of damaged power lines throughout Morristown–as a result of Hurricane Irene over the weekend–which he said are being addressed as quickly as possible.

"I can understand the frustration," Dougherty said Tuesday afternoon, specifically citing several promised times over the previous couple days when power was expected to come back–to no avail.

He noted that "any information we have put out comes from the JCP&L spokesman. It has not been filtered."

But, slowly but surely, much of the downtown business district and neighborhoods around town were reporting power coming back on. Dougherty said just before the 2 p.m. press conference, Council President Anthony Cattano sent him a text saying Frederick Street had just powered up.

"There are still pockets [without power] in Morristown," he said, citing issues of downed wires from the storm.

Both Dougherty, and Sarinelli, said what JCP&L had to undertake to get power up in Morristown had never been done before, because the amount of destruction to its Ridgedale Avenue substation had never been seen before.

Dougherty said power had been sporadically coming on in Morristown because JCP&L has been rewiring power to the town from other sources, as the Ridgedale Avenue substation is completely shut down, and may not be in service for at least a month.

"This substation was completely engulfed by water," the mayor said. When asked if this new process of rewiring to other power sources will work in the longrun, he said, "their engineers are fully confident that the power will work. It's already working for many residents."

Dougherty stressed several times that JCP&L's crews "have been working non-stop. ... What they're doing is unprecentended. They have never done this before."

The mayor also said town Department of Public Works crews also have been working long hours. "We all know how much we all depend on electricity. We're working around the clock."

"This is a fluid situation," Sarinelli said, addressing the several promises of power restoration that came and went. "They're doing something that hasn't been done before."

Sarinelli said an assesment on total damages, and costs to repair them, will be forthcoming.

For now, the town is concentrating on getting full power back. "We feel we're ahead of it now," Dougherty said.