Power Outage In Point Pleasant Area Was To Protect Equipment, JCP&L Says

OCEAN COUNTY, NJ — A power line that fell across high voltage lines feeding electrical substations was the cause of a widespread power outage Tuesday in the Lakewood area and led to power shutdowns in nearby towns, Jersey Central Power & Light said Wednesday morning.

Christopher Hoenig, a spokesman for JCP&L, said the downed wire was the cause of the outage that affected the area of Shorrock Street in Lakewood and Brick.

Lakewood police said Leisure Village East, Four Seasons, and the Lions Head Woods age-restricted communities all lost power for about five hours Tuesday afternoon as a result.

That outage, however, led JCP&L to shut down power in several nearby areas, Hoenig said.

"Due to the added strain of having multiple higher voltage lines down in relatively close proximity, we took a local load reduction in Point Pleasant that affected about 5,000 customers to protect the electric system from additional damage," Hoenig said.

More than 4,500 homes and businesses in Point Pleasant, Point Pleasant Beach, Bay Head and Mantoloking were affected, along with some in Brielle and Wall, Hoenig said.

Service was restored to the majority by 10 a.m. Wednesday, according to the First Energy outages map.