Politics & Government

'New' Assemblyman Bramnick Seeks Outage Info

District 21 state assemblyman says he will follow up with questions for JCP&L about prolonged power outages.

Bernards Township's said one of his goals after being re-elected to serve the 21st district on Tuesday will be to follow up with questions for JCP&L's prolonged power outage in this area, and elsewhere, following an Oct. 29 snowstorm.

Bernards Township has been switched from the 16th state legislative district to the 21st district, as of the end of this year, as part of a redistricting plan implemented earlier this year. Bramnick was a Republican incumbent already representing that district. He, and

Since the unseasonable Oct. 29 snowstorm that resulted in massive power outages in this area and the Northeast, Bramnick has been tallying the outages. He said he has been in constant contact with power company executives and other officials, including local officials in Bernards and Warren Township, which is also part of his district.

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"They [Jersey Central Power & Light] have got to come up with a lot of answers and they're going to have to provide us with them over the next month," Bramnick said on Wednesday. He previously said that Public Service Electric & Gas executives had been far easier to reach than those at JCP&L.

"The worst part was the failure to communicate with residents and public officials," Bramnick said on Wednesday morning. He said people would at least be able to accept an answer, but not knowing what would happen was especially frustrating.

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At one point in the hours after the heavy snow fell on trees still laden with leaves, snapping branches and power lines, about 8,800 JCP&L customers, a majority of homes in the township, were without power. Although that number was initially cut by thousands, lingering outages in Basking Ridge and Liberty Corner lasted for about a week. Nearby Bernardsville also had 90 to 95 percent of its homes in the dark right after the storm, Bernardsville Mayor Lee Honecker said at that time.

Bramnick said he would be working to obtain those answers in tandem with the state Board of Public Utilities (BPU.)

On Wednesday, Bramnick said he is looking forward to representing the "special community" that is Bernards Township.

"Fortunately, I have spent some time in Bernards Township — and it is just a very special community," he said on Wednesday.

Bramnick, Munoz and Kean had most recently attended last Sunday's dedication of the

"It's a family community," he said. "Everyone is very respectful of each other."

He pointed as an example of the community's friendliness to a coffee shop at the Lyons train station, where the woman behind the counter was talking to all the commuters. "It's like a small country town," he said of Bernards.

According to his office, Bramnick is serving his fourth term in the New Jersey General Assembly representing district 21. He was selected by his colleagues to serve as the Conference Leader, making him the second highest ranking member of the Republican Caucus in the Assembly. He is the ranking member on the Assembly Law and Public Safety and Assembly Consumer Affairs Committees and a member of the State House Commission and Bipartisan Leadership Committee. He had served as the co-chairman of the 2011 Assembly Republican reelection campaign and he has previously served as chairman of the Assembly Republican Policy Committee and as the Assembly Republican Whip, according to information released by his office.


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