Murphy orders review of utilities response to nor’easters

WEST TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy says he’s ordering a review of how the state’s utilities handled their response to the two recent winter storms that left thousands without power.

Murphy said Thursday at a news conference that a state of emergency remains in effect and that around 225,000 residents are still without power. He says that’s down from 350,000 at the height of the outages. He added that about 17,000 residents are still without power from last week’s storm.

Murphy also said he’s aware of only one fatality from the most recent storm. A man died after he apparently drove his vehicle around a barricade in Franklin Lakes Thursday and struck a live power line that had been knocked down, sparking a fire that trapped him in the vehicle.