Widespread power outage reported in northern NJ

The New Jersey Department of Transportation has reported downed live wires across Route 80 causing all lanes to close in both directions west of Exit 34 to Route 15 in Roxbury. The downed wires appear to be the reason for the widespread outage across northern NJ.

According to Jersey Central Power and Light (JCP&L), 32,762 customers, over 56%, are currently without power in Sussex County. In Passaic County, 1,726 customers (11%) are currently without power.

A brush fire in the area of the downed power lines has also been reported.

The outage has affected much of Sussex County, including the NJ State Fair. A fair representative said, “The Fairgrounds is experiencing a power outage along with the surrounding areas affected by an incident that occurred out of county. We’re communicating with JCP&L regarding restoration and emergency management for re-establishing water supply. Until this is resolved, there will be no admission into the grounds.”

Sussex Rural Electric said, “We are gathering information on the outage that is affecting our system at the moment. Transmission lines beyond our system are down and we know very little at the moment. We will post information as it becomes available. This is a far-reaching outage affecting many towns, not just our service territory. Please be patient.”