NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Internal NES emails show special treatment for some influential people during the ice storm.
They reveal CEO Teresa Broyles-Aplin directed NES employees to help two board members who wanted information about when their power would be back on.
In one case, a supervisor assigned a crew to work on the board member's "station" less than an hour after the CEO asked about it, and later said they went out to the board member's circuit, but NES claims crews were not redirected.
In both cases, Broyles-Aplin sought to give restoration timelines to the board members that were not available to the general public.
The emails also shed more light on the utility's response to Senator Marsha Blackburn -- after her office asked about restoring power to her home.
The five-member NES Board is Teresa Broyles-Aplin's boss.
Members set her salary and approved a 10% salary increase for Broyles-Aplin just two months before the ice storm hit.
On the morning of Sunday, January 25, 230,000 NES customers lost power. It would not be fully restored for nearly two weeks.
Three days after the ice storm, on Wednesday, January 28, Broyles-Aplin's emails show she contacted the vice president of engineering about board member Rob McCabe.
She wrote:
"Rob has called me 5 times over the last two days wanting information about his neighborhood. He is not asking for favors. He just wants updates [...] Can you have someone check on this for me."
Less than an hour after that e-mail, she sent her operations manager an email about another board member - Casey Santos - who earlier raised concerns about NES's overall response.
Broyles-Aplin wrote:
"I just heard from Casey Santos. She is really hyper about her power because she said their generator is failing."... "She is demanding we provide her an estimated time of restoration. What's your best guess?"
The operations manager responded:
"I am looking into this now."
Broyles-Aplin quickly responded:
"She would like for me to call her with an update on the estimated time once a crew has been able to evaluate it. Can you call me with an update when you get it?"
Broyles-Aplin then gave the NES manager her cell number.
Just ten minutes later, the manager emailed that a crew just called, asking for their next assignment. They have been sent to this station."
He concluded, "I will keep you informed of any updates."
That evening, Broyles-Aplin emailed:
"I know that she (Santos) will awaiting an update. Any updates?"
The operations manager immediately responded:
"I wish I had better news. Crews went out to Casey's circuit. They will not be able to get her back on tonight."
... but "will jump back on it first thing in the morning."
The CEO asked:
"Do you think they can get it done?"
The next morning, Broyles-Aplin emailed the manager again writing Santos:
"has already texted and called me for an update. Anything you can tell me?"
NewsChannel 5 Investigates shared the information in the emails with Santos.
She sent the following statement:
"After 4 days without power, I reached out to NES to get an update on possible restoration timelines. Like much of Nashville, it would be 2 more days before our power came back on. Throughout the course of Winter Storm Fern, I reached out to leadership multiple times to share concerns and information requests from folks across the service area."
Rob McCabe responded that he was out of power for 7 days, and he just wanted to know "the estimate of when power might be restored."
That's what others wanted to know as well.
Elisa Hill's 8-year-old daughter was born with congenital heart disease and receives oxygen every night.
"We didn't know what to expect, what to prepare for and just having to cross our fingers and say our prayers," Hill said.
The family said it signed up for NES's list of medically fragile customers who need power, but like many on the program, she did not get updates or expedited power restoration.
"It was disappointing to see it wasn't even a factor as far as I was aware," Hill said.
The family got a hotel room - their power came back after 7 days.
The emails also go into detail how Broyles-Aplin and NES responded after Senator Marsha Blackburn's office called requesting information on when power would be restored to her home in Brentwood. The request from Senator Blackburn's office was first reported by the Nashville Scene.
On Tuesday, January 27, Broyles-Aplin emailed the operations manager:
"I just got off the phone with Senator Blackburn's office. They are wanting information on when her power might be restored."
The manager responded a crew was in the area:
"No guarantees that her house will come back on, we are actively working on it."
The next evening at 6:49 p.m., Broyles-Aplin emailed:
"Any updates" about Senator Blackburn's home.
Less than an hour later - the system supervisor responded.
Crews found "a broken pole and more down lines" as they got closer to the Senator's home.
The supervisor then wrote:
"I will try and further isolate that pole and get a wire up. I just don't know if I can get a free [truck] overnight."
NES sent the following statement:
"NES restores power by first tackling the areas with the largest number of impacted customers. Checking an address's status does not change prioritization or mean that crews are redirected."
Senator Blackburn has not responded.
