TOMS RIVER, N.J. — Nearly 5,000 homes and businesses in Toms River were left without electricity overnight and into the morning on Monday as temperatures plunged into the 20s, prompting the Ocean County Board of Commissioners to escalate its longstanding grievances with Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L).
At the board’s organizational meeting on Monday, acting Director Frank Sadeghi called for immediate legal action against the utility company, citing what he described as chronic service issues in the region. “I say that we immediately file a suit against JCP&L in the amount of $1 billion,” Sadeghi said during the meeting, where he also assumed the role of deputy director in the absence of Board Director Jack Kelly.
The Toms River Police Department urges drivers to use caution as multiple traffic signals along the Route 37 corridor are also without power.
Toms River Mayor Dan Rodrick echoed the county’s stance. While serving as a councilman, Rodrick had previously suggested fining JCP&L as the township has been plagued with random outages over the years. That request was ignored by Mayor Maurice Hill and his council allies on the council. Hill is no longer mayor and most of those dissenting council members have since been voted out of office.
“I’m working on an ordinance with the council that would fine power companies for outages above the national average,” Mayor Rodrick said. “There are outages in Toms River every month. This is out of control. JCP&L needs to improve their infrastructure, or we will fine them $100,000 per outage above the national average. JCP&L makes a lot of money on the backs of Toms River residents. They have the money to make the investments they need to make to stop these outages.”
1.4 outages per year is the U.S. national average of outages per year. Rodrick said the town will use two outages as the baseline for fines. The average household pays $150 per month for municipal tax. Rodrick said many homeowners pay the power company two to three times that amount each month.
This year, JCP&L will be raising rates by 2.2% through July. By 2026, electric rates for homeowners in Toms River will increase 4.2% under a 2023 approved rate hike.
“This is a matter of life and death for the many seniors in our town,” Rodrick said. “People have medical equipment, most of the senior communities are on electric heat, they are all without power this morning, and it was 20 degrees this morning. This is not how you treat your customers.”
The power outage, which impacted the Route 37 corridor and surrounding areas, highlighted broader frustrations over what county officials allege are insufficient infrastructure upgrades and delays in service improvements. The commissioners did not formally act on Sadeghi’s proposal, but several appeared to support his call to hold the Ohio-based utility accountable.
Sadeghi pointed to JCP&L’s corporate parent, FirstEnergy, as detached from local customers’ needs. “The county government will find a way to get the attention of the electric company,” he said, emphasizing the board’s intention to push for change.
JCP&L defended its record, with spokesman Chris Hoenig stating, “JCP&L continues to invest in our infrastructure along the Jersey Shore and throughout our service territory to enhance service reliability and meet the current and anticipated future demand for electricity. We look forward to working with our municipal, county, and state elected officials now and into the future.”
The outage and the commissioners’ proposed legal action mark the latest in clashes between the utility provider and local officials, who have repeatedly criticized JCP&L’s pace in addressing infrastructure concerns.