96 Percent of Woodbridge Customers Have Power Back; PSE&G Keeps Middlesex Water Pumps Going

In the middle of power outages and water failures, there is a rainbow for Woodbridge.

Power has been restored to 96 percent of the township's households, said Ralph LaRossa, president and chief operating officer at PSE&G in an update conference call this morning.

He said that 1,631 Woodbridge homeowners are waiting for their lights to go on. That's even better than the county as a whole. Electrical service has been turned back on for 87 percent of Middlesex County residents; 33,346 are still without power.

"Frustrations are high," LaRossa acknowledged. "Don't think by any stretch of the imagination we've forgotten about them. We're going to do this thing until we're done."

In addition to restoring residential and business service, PSE&G was also called in to fix problems with electrical generation at the Middlesex Water Company plant in New Brunswick. Woodbridge and other residents in nearby towns served the water utility were notified that the back-up generator which had been working since last week had failed.

That meant customers would have to boil water, but worse, it could also mean a diminution and eventual halt to water service for customers.

Bernadette Sohler of Middlesex Water said that the service was restored around 2 am, and the company had run it for awhile to make sure it was working properly.

She was "cautiously optimistic" about the electric power, as was LaRossa.

"We think it's good," he said in the conference call.

LaRossa explained that the Middlesex Water Company's situation was an example of how they "start to bring customers back through circuits that aren't their normal circuits. Sometimes we shut the circuit down to make sure employees are safe."

In the water utility example, "other activities were going on, and there was a wire burnt. We made permanent repairs."

LaRossa said the Middlesex Water Company electric generation to pump the water is "stabilized." To further assist the company, LaRossa said PSE&G got them an extra back-up generator to replace the one that had been pumping water since before Hurricane Sandy hit the area.

Follow Woodbridge Patch on Facebook, Twitter and sign up for the daily newsletter.