Hurricane Ida: JCP&L, Atlantic City Electric crews head to Gulf Coast to restore power

A cadre of New Jersey utility workers are headed to the Gulf Coast to help with electric infrastructure repairs after Hurricane Ida's knockout blow.

Jersey Central Power & Light is sending 41 employees, a mix of line and transmission workers, as well as safety workers and supervisors, along with 47 contractors. They are part of a group of 500 line workers, forestry crews and others sent by 10 utilities owned by parent company FirstEnergy Corp. 

Atlantic City Electric said it is sending more than 50 employees and contractors to Louisiana to repair infrastructure damage and restore electric service to residents impacted by Hurricane Ida.

Related: Gas prices likely to jump as Hurricane Ida affects gasoline production along Gulf Coast

On Sunday, Ida brought extreme high winds, storm surge and flash flooding along the northeast Gulf coast. More than a million people are currently without power in Louisiana, FirstEnergy said. More than 100,000 have lost power in Mississippi.

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JCP&L and Atlantic City Electric said they are monitoring Ida and the storm's potential to affect on their own customers. Both said they had the necessary resources to handle normal operations and any restorations that are required.

“FirstEnergy meteorologists are monitoring the remnants of Hurricane Ida as it moves across the country. JCP&L has flood mitigation protocols, such as flood walls at substations that are susceptible to flooding, which are being enacted given the forecast for heavy rains," JCP&L spokesman Christopher Hoenig said in a statement. "Our mutual aid crews assisting in Louisiana were selected from across the JCP&L service area to ensure that we are staffed and prepared for potential severe weather.”

Typically, utilities send workers to help each other during after powerful storms knock out power. For instance, after Tropical Storm Isaias hit last summer, Atlantic City Electric received help from utility workers from 13 states and Canada.

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"Energy companies from across the country have supported our responses to major storms here, and we are glad to return the favor," said Gary Stockbridge, Atlantic City Electric regional president said in a statement. "We are proud of our dedicated employees and contractors who are answering the call for help to support what is expected to be a monumental restoration effort."

FirstEnergy is a member of multiple electric utility mutual-assistance groups.

"Many of our lineman have been to Louisiana in the past to help following other hurricanes, and they are committed to assisting what is likely to be a massive power restoration effort in challenging working conditions," said John Skory, FirstEnergy's vice president of utility operations, in a statement.

David P. Willis: dwillis@gannettnj.com.