Atlantic City Electric services roughly 547,000 South Jerseyans.
At this hour, they’re telling media that 100,000 of their customers are without power. About 25% of these customers reside in populous Camden County where heavy bands of rain continue to circulate. The company has already announced prospective plans to “de-energize” its grid in the barrier islands.
In related news, Ocean County’s Oyster Creek nuclear reactor was shut down yesterday as a precautionary measure. Hundreds of thousands are already in the dark up and down the eastern seaboard.
Thousands more in Monmouth and Ocean have reported problems. Thanks to storm surges, the phases of the moon, the slow speed of the storm and an array of complicating factors, power companies except the total number to reach seven-figure territory by the afternoon when this massive tropical system finally begins to clear out. That couldn’t come a moment too soon.
