Wildwood mayor says outages ‘not acceptable’ after thousands lose power over the weekend
Wildwood Mayor Pete Byron calls the shortages unacceptable and says he will call meetings with decision-makers in the coming days and weeks.
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Thousands of customers lost power in Wildwood on Saturday, affecting many businesses and rides on the boardwalk.
The power outage that occurred Saturday in Wildwood happened around 7 p.m. on Schellenger Avenue and impacted about 3,650 customers, Atlantic City Electric said in a statement. The company says most customers had power restored within an hour. They say the remaining customers, including Morey’s Piers and the boardwalk, were restored in just over two hours.
The outage occurred due to an issue with energy infrastructure causing a downed wire, according to Atlantic City Electric. They say the exact cause of the issue is to be determined.
“We are committed to providing safe and reliable energy service to our customers and communities. Our personnel proactively patrol and inspect distribution lines and associated energy equipment across the Wildwoods and make repairs as needed,” Atlantic City Electric said in a statement. “We also perform periodic inspections using infrared technology to identify any potential issues and replace or repair infrastructure as warranted."
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The statement continued, “We are continuing to make upgrades to our electric system and investing to strengthen the local energy against extreme weather, while also installing new and more modern infrastructure and technology, which enabled our ability to restore the majority of customers faster during the Aug. 26 outage.”
Wildwood Mayor Pete Byron calls the shortages unacceptable and says he will call meetings with decision-makers in the coming days and weeks.
“We have an old electric infrastructure, and it is not built to handle all the new construction and modern technology. The electric company has to get in front of this. These shortages are not acceptable," Wildwood Mayor Pete Byron said in a statement.
Bob Dipeso, an arcade owner who runs Bobby Dee's Arcade, said the power went out again early Monday morning. He called these outages devastating to business.
"We are like Christmas season. It's short, it's brief, it's intense and then it's over. So, if you lose one day, two days or three days, that basically for a lot of people eats into their profit for the summer," Dipeso said.
A couple of weeks ago, people got stuck on rides when power was lost and businesses were interrupted. Power in Wildwood previously went out on July 7, which lasted for 36 hours, on Aug. 15 for several hours, and again on Aug. 26 for around two hours.
