file photo by Boyd Loving
Ridgewood, N.J. Residents Furious Over Unexpected PSE&G Project
Utility Company Plans To Replace Power Lines All Over Bergen County
July 15, 2013 9:05 PM
RIDGEWOOD, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — Residents in one New Jersey neighborhood have told a power company “not in my neighborhood.” The outcry began when PSE&G began replacing 35-foot utility poles with poles that are twice as tall.
“I was not given any notice that they were putting 69,000-volt lines in my neighborhood,” Alyssa Steinberger told CBS 2′s Christine Sloan on Monday.
Residents told Sloan that the change came without warning.
“I came home from the gym and couldn’t get to my street,” Steinberger said. “My street was closed off and there were cones at the end of each street.”
A PSE&G spokesperson said that the company notified village officials in advance and blamed the mix-up on a miscommunication,
This project was not unexpected…. relax, the installation will serve more than Ridgewood residents.
the installation will serve more than Ridgewood residents.
Who will it serve?
Said The man who does not live near the high voltage lines.
Who wants a gigantic pole in front of their house that will help other towns?
apparently Blog News Watcher does…
During the hurricane in October a telephone pole on Melrose Place crashed down in a westerly direction, snapped near the base like a breadstick. It wasn’t even that close to the corner, but it fell all the way across West End Avenue, blocking that important thoroughfare for days. The lights and wires of course went with it and were strewn all over the place. If it had hit a house/car/pet/person, forget about it.
That was the old, “short” kind of pole. If it had been twice as high, it would have hit the house on the west side of West End for sure.
West End is an important thoroughfare???? Are you for real????????
You missed the point of the post.
I took a ride down Hope Street today . . . . those are some darn thick and high poles. They are huge.
PSE&G has out Valleyed Valley!! They got their huge project built in a residential neighborhood before anyone had the chance to weigh in on what a dumb idea it was. Kudos!! Audrey Meyers must be green right now.
“This is not about not-in-my-back-yard,” Hope Street resident Alyssa Steinberger told Patch. “It’s about a big corporation trying to take advantage of people.”
Wow, doesn’t this sound a little like Valley Hospital???
PSEG & Valley Hospital – perfect together.
You know there was a secret meeting at some point where someone in our town government gave the ok to PSEG to do this. You also know that the public was deliberately kept out of the process. Sounds a lot like Valley’s original plan. Unfortunately, it’s a long uphill fight when large corporations get government support (again, see Valley, its tax exempt status and its ties to our Council). Fight on Hope & Spring St residents!
The difference between valley and pseg is valley is not a public utility, the fact that pseg is a publicly traded entity does not weaken it position as a utilty and the preference it carries with it
Point clearly not lost on this crowd. You wanna talk about a for-profit corporation “taking advantage”? Look at what “they” (no doubt PSE&G and their compadre utilities) have cooking up in Trenton right now. Following excerpted from pending (NJ) Senate bill no. 2429:
“Any public utility… that clears, moves, cuts, or destroys any trees, shrubs, or plants for the purpose of erecting, installing, moving, removing, altering, protecting, or maintaining any structures or fixtures, necessary for the supply of electric lights, heat, or power, communication or cable television services upon any lands in which it has acquired an easement or right-of-way or upon a public right-of-way, shall not be required to receive the permission of a commission to undertake such work or be subject to any penalty imposed by a shade tree commission.”
Talk about diplomatic immunity…