South Orange continues to experience numerous power outages following a fast-moving and violent storm on Friday, July 3, that downed many trees and took out power lines. From South Orange Mayor Sheena Collum on Sunday, July 5, 2026:
South Orange Neighbors,
As a follow-up to my last update (https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18onzR5Y8E/), we have continued to stay in close communication with PSE&G and, a little while ago, concluded another statewide briefing with their leadership team.
Joining me on the call were all members of the Village Council and representatives from our Police Department, Fire Department, Rescue Squad, Department of Public Works, Office of Emergency Management, and Administration. Together, we made it clear that the level of communication our residents have received has not been acceptable.
We specifically raised the concerns we’ve been hearing throughout the weekend from all of you, including conflicting restoration estimates, residents being told their power has been restored when it has not, outages that have not appeared correctly on the outage map or app, and the especially difficult situation facing those who lost power before Friday night’s storm and have now been without electricity for an extended period of time.
To help us better track what is happening across the community, I have created a shared Google Sheet where residents who are still without power can add their addresses and share feedback about their experiences and anything they believe PSE&G should know.
The spreadsheet is accessible to residents, Village staff, and elected officials, and I will share it directly with PSE&G. As we continue to receive updates from the utility, this will allow our team to cross-reference PSE&G’s reported restoration efforts with what our residents are actually experiencing on the ground. Because we do not have access to individual customer accounts or PSE&G’s internal restoration system, your input is critical to helping us identify discrepancies, continue advocating on your behalf, and ensure no neighborhood is overlooked.
Google Sheet: https://docs.google.com/…/1KItKfO7nmoyKzGYzVkWbMbj…/edit
Thank you to everyone who has continued to report outages, check on neighbors, and keep us informed. We know this has been an incredibly difficult few days, and we remain committed to advocating for every household until power has been restored across our entire community.
As a friendly reminder: the Baird is opening for cooling/charging, the pool is open to all South Orange residents with proof of residency, and Box Office Cinemas has generously opened the movies to all South Orange residents free of charge, and I’m incredibly grateful to them.
