PCL&P still looking for cause of widespread power outage

The Milford area is without power as its utility, Pike County Light & Power, is looking into the cause of the outage.

“As promised, this is another hourly update,” PCL&P posted on its Facebook page (facebook.com/pikecountylightandpower) at about 11:30 a.m. this morning. “Unfortunately, in this case, no news is not good news. The crew has yet to identify the principal cause of the outage. The crew is meticulously checking the lines, and have identified an area of trouble and are making some repairs but we are unsure if this will resolve the overall outage. It will take approximately 2-3 hours to do the repairs and test the lines. We are hopeful this will resolve the outage but without knowing the primary cause, we are unable to offer an estimated time of restoration. We understand how frustrating power outages can be and we want to thank you again for your continued patience while we work towards restoration. We will update again around 2:00 p.m.”

The utility says when there is not an obvious cause for the outage, such as a downed tree or broken pole, for example, “it becomes much more difficult to identify the reason for the outage but we are working diligently to restore the power and will continue to update Facebook as things progress.”

PCL&P says it knows all the affected areas, and that customers do not have to report your outage. “The first outage call came in at approximately 12:19 a.m. and our crews have been patrolling the lines, damage assessing, and isolating circuits since approximately 12:40 a.m.,” it said in a Facebook post.

The utility says the outage is affecting Westfall, Milford Township, Milford Borough and Dingman Township. “Crew has been patrolling to identify the cause now,” said a Facebook message posted at about 3 a.m. this morning. “Crew has partially restored the circuit up to, and including, Cummins Hill Road.”

At that time, residents reported outages in the following areas: 6th Street, Bennett Avenue, Foster Hill Road, School House Drive, Santos Drive, Christian Hill Road, Milford Landing, Moon Valley Road, Green Acres community, Firetower Road, Sawmill Avenue, Schocopee Court, Miller Road.

At about 7 a.m. this morning, PCL&P warned about intermittent power: “Matamoras and Westfall (heading into Milford up until Wheatfield Drive) currently has power but they may see it go on and off periodically. Milford Township and Borough are still out but may see the power go on and off periodically as well. Pike County Light & Power is isolating circuits to try to identify the cause of the widespread power outage.”

A much smaller outage is affecting up to 20 Met-Ed customers in the Dingmans Ferry area. Met-Ed says it’s restoration time is 2 p.m. today.