BPU unanimously rejects JCP&L’s Monster Lines project

RAGE leaders, in Trenton, celebrate the BPU’s decision to nix JCPL’s Monmouth Monster Power Line Project

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities unanimously denied  Jersey Central Power and Light’s ‘Monmouth Reliability Project,’ according to Hazlet Deputy Mayor Sue Kiley who is in Trenton for the BPU meeting.

“This is a great victory for all of the grassroots activists of RAGE (Residents Against Giant Electric), and all of the government officials who fought together through a complex and arduous legal process to produce the right result for Monmouth County residents who live along NJ Transit’s North Jersey Coast Line,” Kiley said. Read the rest of this entry »

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Next OAL Hearing on 3/29 nothing short of OutRAGEous

By Middletown Township Committeeman Tony Fiore

Tony Fiore

On March 29^th, thousands of residents and local elected officials from Monmouth County will converge upon the Collins Arena at Brookdale to speak against the proposed Monmouth County Reliability Project as proposed by First Energy and its subsidiary JCP&L.  This additional hearing called for by Office of Administrative Law Judge Gail Cookson, follows a meeting held on January 25^th at Middletown High School North where thousands attended and many were turned away.  As an elected official in Middletown who will not have the opportunity to speak at this meeting per the Judge’s request, I will not remain silent with the question I would have asked Judge Cookson:  What’s the point of this hearing?

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DiMaso speaks against the ‘Monmouth Reliability Project’ on behalf of Freeholder Board

Video courtesy of John Schneider

Freeholders from New Jersey Bayshore on Vimeo.

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Congressman Smith to NJ Transist: Don’t allow JCP&L power lines

Congressman Chris Smith

NEWARK, N.J.—Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) testified today before the New Jersey Transit Corporation Board of Directors in an effort to convince the agency to reject the Jersey Central Power & Light Co (JCP&L) application to utilize the transit agency’s right-of-way for the proposed “Monmouth County Reliability Project.” JCP&L has proposed the 10-mile-long transmission line be placed through residential neighborhoods along NJT’s North Jersey Coast line, creating an undue burden for large numbers of people in five Monmouth County municipalities.

“Some may argue that there is little or no adverse health link to exposure to the electromagnetic fields created by these high-voltage lines, and may produce select studies that suggest that,” said Smith, Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on global health in his expert testimony. “But there is statistically relevant evidence–including studies–that suggest otherwise.”

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Beck and Kyrillos Oppose Giant Power Lines

Senators Joe Kyrillos and Jennifer Beck announced this morning that they have introduced three resolutions in State Senate in opposition to the JCP&L project known as the Monmouth Reliability Project.

The project would drive a 230-kV transmission line on 140-foot-tall monopole towers on a nearly 10-mile path from Aberdeen to Red Bank, cutting through Hazlet, Holmdel, Middletown and across the Navesink River with sight exposure to Fair Haven and Rumson.

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Congressman Smith Statement on JCP&L Withdraw of Petition

Congressman Chris Smith and Freeholder Lillian Burry

FREEHOLD, N.J. – Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) today issued a statement regarding Jersey Central Power & Light Company (JCP&L) and Mid-Atlantic Interstate Transmission, LLC (MAIT) withdrawing their petition to the Board of Public Utilities for the transfer of some of JCP&L’s transmission assets to MAIT.

“I am encouraged that Jersey Central Power & Light Company (JCP&L) has withdrawn its petition to the Board of Public Utilities for the transfer of some of JCP&L’s transmission assets to a new sister company,” Smith said. “Had it been approved, I believe it would have made it easier for JCP&L to build the Monmouth County Reliability Project, which I believe is ill-conceived and not in the best interest of the residents. There is still more to be done to protect the citizens of Monmouth County from the potential negative effects of these proposed high voltage transmission lines, and I will continue to work with the residents and grassroots efforts to complete this task. I have a meeting with NJ Transit next week to do just that, and will continue working with other officials in this regard.”

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Monmouth County Reliability Project Sheds Light on the State’s Continued Skim on Taxpayers

By Tony Fiore, Middletown Deputy Mayor

The recent filing of the proposed JCP&L Monmouth County Reliability Project should serve as a wake-up call to all taxpayers in the state of New Jersey.   The proposed 10 mile project with upwards of 200 foot monopoles to be installed on New Jersey Transit right-of way, will have a negative impact on the property values of all adjoining properties and potentially, properties within the line of site.  The impact alone in Middletown could be upwards of $1.5 million in lost value. However, don’t despair taxpayers of Middletown, Holmdel, Hazlet, Aberdeen and Red Bank, according to their BPU filing, JCP&L will be making a $9.8 million payment towards the local municipalities through Energy Receipts taxes.

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Judge Lawson: Freeholder Lillian Burry had no conflict of interest regarding Lucas farm vote

Judge Lawrence M. Lawson

Monmouth County Assignment Judge Lawrence M. Lawson has ruled that “no rational fact-finder could find a conflict of interest” in Freeholder Lillian Burry’s March 2013 vote to fund the purchase of the development rights to former Manalapan Mayor Andrew Lucas’s Burke Farm.

In an opinion dated January 8, Lawson said that Burry did not have a conflict of interest, “real or apparent,” “potential” or “actual” in the controversial farmland preservation purchase that has been a political football in Monmouth County and Manalapan since 2010.

In a Summary Judgment, Lawson dismissed the suit with prejudice, brought by Holmdel attorney Lawrence Luttrell, a Democratic freeholder candidate at the time that he, his wife and mother-in-law formed R.A.G.E (Residents Against Government Exploitation), a non-profit corporation, for the sole purpose of bringing suit against Monmouth County over Burry’s vote on the Lucas farm deal.

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