Post-Irene JCP&L Innovations To Improve Communications, Prevent Power Loss
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - One of Tropical Storm Irene's biggest punches hit the electric grid, knocking huge sections of New Jersey offline for days.
Jersey Central Power & Light told WCBS 880 that, in the year since, they have been working to improve communication with customers.
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JCP&L Spokesman Ron Morano told WCBS 880's Jim Smith that customers can stay informed right on the internet.
"We're communicating now with our customers over Twitter. We have a Facebook page. We're providing a great deal more information to customers about what's going on," he said. "[We have a] 24/7 power center that we launched is state-of-the-art, brand new technology." Morano said.
He said for those in the dark, gathering information about your power source can all be done from a smartphone, including the tools to report an outage.
"You get a map, you can even put a street location in, it's going to tell you where power outages are," he said, also touting better communications with local officials during storms.
He said it's all designed to get the lights back on more efficiently.
According to Morano, JCP&L is also spending $200 million to reinforce the electric grid.
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