Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) officials today announced a series of new operational practices that will provide additional information to municipal officials about power outage restoration efforts during significant storm events.

The JCP&L enhancements will include:

• Providing municipalities with maps showing electrical circuit routes in their communities
• Locating JCP&L municipal liaisons in company field offices to maintain contact with local officials
• Hosting targeted teleconference briefings for municipal officials about localized restoration work
• Deploying additional company personnel to work with municipal representatives
• Training county and municipal first responders on electrical safety
• Participating in community advisory board meetings with county and municipal leaders and emergency agencies to outline the company’s restoration procedures

“We are committed to continuous improvement for our customers and welcome the opportunity to work with state, county and municipal officials over the next several months as we implement these new practices,” said Don Lynch, president of JCP&L. “These enhancements, which are based on feedback from customers and municipal officials following Hurricane Sandy, are designed to provide more outreach and collaboration to elected officials and customers about the company’s restoration process and priorities on a community by community basis.”

In addition to these new practices, JCP&L is developing a number of mobile technology tools to help customers report outages and access other important information about their electric account. This month, the company will launch a new customer app that can be downloaded to Apple or Android smartphones. The app will make it easier for customers to report a power outage, view the company’s 24/7 Power Center maps, or access their JCP&L accounts from a mobile device. The app will be similar to the company’s new mobile website, which is available now by visiting www.jcp-l.com from a smartphone. Advancements allowing customers to receive outage or account information via text message or email are under development for later in 2013. Further improvements also are being made to the 24/7 Power Center, including a greater level of detail about power outages, and redesigning content to ensure customers can find the information they need before, during and after a major storm.

The company announced the new practices and upcoming technology improvements at meetings today in Eatontown and Morristown with members of the League of Municipalities, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and the New Jersey State Police. These were the latest in a series of meetings JCP&L has participated in with customers, regulators and elected officials to receive feedback concerning restoration efforts following Hurricane Sandy. TLS-PR.