Ameren crews and support personnel have begun work in New Jersey assisting Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) crews. The utility company says safety is the highest priority.
Full restoration is expected to take seven or more days. Ameren crews working in Somerset and Lawrenceville, N.J., are facing several issues including roadways being covered by downed trees and power lines.
Ameren says its Senior Leadership Team is participating in daily conference calls with utility CEOs, which includes Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and representatives of Federal Emergency Management Agency, and says those calls will continue until restoration is completed.
“We participated in the conference call [Oct. 30], which was chaired by President Obama and Secretary of Energy Chu,” said Warner L. Baxter, president and CEO, Ameren Missouri. “The focus of that call was to ensure that the federal government was doing all it could to remove barriers for restoration and leverage their assets in the best way possible to assist the industry.”
“Status reports I’m receiving about the extent of the damage suggest that restoration is going to take a lot of time,” said Richard J. Mark, president and CEO, Ameren Illinois. “A member of my senior management team will be joining our crews to help direct operations on the ground and expedite our ability to get the power on quickly and safely for the people in the New Jersey.”
Ameren’s support of Sandy by the numbers:
- 245 are linemen
- 65 are safety, supervisory, fleet and logistics personnel
- 240 Ameren contractors released to respond
- 97 bucket trucks
- 98 material, derrick digger trucks used to dig and set poles and E-Z haul trailers
Ameren.com features updates on Ameren Missouri and Ameren Illinois crews assisting the restoration efforts. Restoration videos will be posted on YouTube.