Tennessee governor urges better Nashville Electric Service efforts in winter storm

More than 70,000 Nashville Electric Service customers, both residential and commercial, still lack power more than five days after an ice storm plastered Middle Tennessee. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)

With tens of thousands of Nashville Electric Services customers still without power, Gov. Bill Lee encouraged the utility to improve communications and transparency five days after a winter storm struck.

NES is drawing criticism about its response to the historic storm after turning down some outside help because of its policies for line workers’ safety.

In a statement issued Friday with thousands of people powerless after five days, Lee said people need a “clear timeline” for electric service, completion of work in their neighborhood and information on the number of line workers deployed.

“I have shared my strong concerns with NES leadership as well as my expectation that both communication with their customers and power restoration efforts must improve,” Lee said. “We will continue to track progress, and have further discussion about how to ensure efficient local response going forward.”

The governor added that he and Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell speak daily and that the state will keep providing Nashville with resources, including the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, Tennessee Department of Transportation, Tennessee National Guard and other agencies.

A spokesperson for NES could not be reached for comment Friday. But the utility put information on its website showing 230,000 customers lost power at the peak of Winter Storm Fern, which caused the largest power outage in NES history when a combination of snow, ice and freezing weather caused trees and power poles across the region to snap and cause damage.

A map details areas where line crews are working across the NES service area, mainly in southwest Davidson County, which was one of the hardest hit areas. Smaller pockets of outages remain across the utility’s service district.

The utility sustained 503 broken poles along with trees and branches falling on power lines. Because of the widespread damage and hazards, restoring all power could take days, and some customers should expect their electricity to be out for one to two weeks, the site says.

The utility has more than 1,000 line workers in the field, and crews are putting in shifts of 14 to 16 hours, working first in the areas with the largest number of outages, then making their way down a list to single outages, according to the site.

Crews from several states are working on the outages, but NES turned down some offers of help, depending instead on contract service and mutual aid partnerships, the site says.

“In terms of utilizing outside crews, integrating new crews into a live electric system is challenging. We will not and cannot compromise safety,” the site says. “Linemen must be qualified, trained on our system, insured, and integrated into our safety and operations protocols. Mutual aid ensures crews meet those criteria.”