Road salt apparently cause of power outage affecting thousands in NJ

ByEyewitness News WABC logo
Friday, January 12, 2018
Road salt apparently cause of power outage affecting thousands in NJ
AJ Ross reports on power outages in New Jersey that have left tens of thousands of people without power.

UNION COUNTY, New Jersey (WABC) -- Tens of thousands of people were without power in New Jersey Friday, and it's apparently due to road salt wreaking havoc on electrical equipment.



PSEG officials said about 40,000 customers were without power at the peak, primarily in northern and central New Jersey.



In Union County alone, about 25,000 customers were in the dark. The outage there is being attributed to weather-related damage to circuits at PSEG's switching stations.



Power has since been restored to many, with about 10,000 people without electricity as of about noon.



Power company officials said the rain and condensation, mixing with residual salt on roadways and walkways, compromised equipment.



There is no estimated time of restoration for those without power in Union County.



This outage is not connected to another in Morris County, in which a blown transformer left more than 15,000 customers in the dark Friday morning. The cause of that incident is under investigation.



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