A.G. Gancarski
Even as considerable acrimony has been shown by Jacksonville residents to JEA management during the post-Matthew period of sustained power outages, there is reason for hope.
As of 5:30 p.m. Thursday, the utility was down to 4,806 customers without power.
That reduction is not a moment too soon for long-suffering customers, many of whom have been emailing Mayor Lenny Curry with complaints about the slow restoration process.
On its website, JEA offers the following message regarding the “severe tree devastation” that has resulted in what is now a seventh powerless day for at least some customers.
Hurricane Matthew caused severe tree devastation which wreaked havoc on JEA’s electric system. As a result, the restoration process is taking longer than expected.
We know that our customers without power are tired and frustrated. We sincerely apologize for that.
We have told you that we currently have assistance from utilities in Florida and four other states. This assistance has quadrupled the number of field crews doing electric restoration.
We continue to make progress. Be assured, we will continue to work around the clock until every customer’s power is restored.
Some of Curry’s correspondents have wondered if JEA will offer financial compensation to those inconvenienced by extended outages.
Given that JEA CEO Paul McElroy has estimated that $30 million of damage to the utility’s infrastructure was caused, that hope for compensation likely will go unfulfilled.
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JEA’s efforts toward power restoration have been helped by 500 workers from ten utility companies.
“The assistance provided by these additional utility workers is nothing short of Herculean,” said McElroy in a press release.
“Thus far, more than 20,700 man-hours have been provided to JEA by the mutual aid crews, and they have helped bring online more than 133,000 customers. The outages and devastation caused by Hurricane Matthew is unlike any we have seen in recent years,” McElroy added, “and the damage to our system was massive. All of these lineworkers have left their own homes and families to assist us, working 16/17-hour-days, taking a short break and then doing it all over again the next day. We are truly indebted to them and appreciate their hard work in helping our customers get power again.”
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Even as JEA moves toward having Jacksonville completely powered again, there is yet another PR storm on the horizon for McElroy.
As the Florida Times-Union reported Thursday, McElroy was out of town during Hurricane Matthew for his daughter’s wedding, which was on Sunday.
