By Vin Gopal 

It has been an unforgettable summer, but for reasons many of us would like to forget.

The summer of 2026 has been notable for its hot spells, torrential rains, flooding, and power outages. Our Legislative District 11 office worked throughout the outages to assist residents who were having difficulty getting information about when their power would be back on. My LD11 partners, Assemblywomen Margie Donlon and Luanne Peterpaul and I participated in numerous calls with JCP&L to get updates on storm preparedness and outages and pass the information along to the residents without power.

We handled many calls with constituents whose power was out and communicated with others on my Facebook Page, facebook.com/SenatorGopal/. They were frustrated by the lack of information on when the power would be restored. Residents reported receiving text messages stating crews were still working on outages even after electricity had already returned, while others received notices indicating power had been restored when their homes remained without service. The conflicting updates left many residents uncertain about whether they should continue making alternative arrangements or expect power to return soon.

Over the July 4th weekend, strong thunderstorms and oppressive heat knocked out power to nearly 325,000 JCP&L customers statewide. While we appreciate that a problem of that scale is very challenging to utility company road crews - and we are grateful for their efforts - JCP&L has got to come up with a way to better inform customers whose power has gone out.

That’s why we are preparing legislation to introduce requiring electric utilities to improve the accuracy and reliability of their customer notification systems. 

We also are working to connect municipal officials with the DEP to work on a plan to address frequent flooding in LD11 towns, areas like Wesley Lake, between Asbury Park and Ocean Grove, which breached its banks again this summer during storms. 

We have sponsored legislation to establish a municipal water infrastructure planning and design project grant program in DEP. The measure would appropriate $100 million to fund the grants. Our legislation would award grants for local water infrastructure projects of up to $2 million.

While storms like those in July are extreme, they have become more frequent in recent years. Finding innovative ways to deal with flooding, spells of extreme heat, and other climate change-related weather problems will take both near- and long-term approaches. As we work with our municipal partners and legislative colleagues to address these challenges, we welcome your suggestions and concerns. We hope you will never hesitate to contact us at [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], or (732) 704-3808, if we can be of assistance or to share your ideas.

Together, we will find ways to make life better during these frequent bouts of extreme weather.

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