MIDDLETOWN – A power failure in Monmouth County left more than 9,000 customers of Jersey Central Power & Light without electricity during the evening commute on Monday, when traffic lights were knocked out on Route 36.
Middletown Deputy Police Chief Paul J. Bailey said that traffic was being diverted around the outages on Route 36, with fire police responding to the affected intersections with barricades.
JCP&L said that the outage was caused by a substation failure and that power to the region was now being rerouted through another substation while repairs were underway. Electricity was restored to all customers in the region by about 5:30 p.m. Monday.
The Atlantic Highlands Police Department said it understood the outage had originated as a fire at Sandy Hook.
“There is currently a large power outage affecting Atlantic Highlands, Highlands and Middletown,” according to a statement from the Atlantic Highlands department earlier in the evening.