NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Nashville Electric Service is under intense scrutiny from Metro Council members following a "generational storm" in January that left more than 230,000 customers without power in the largest outage event in NES history.
The storm tore down nearly half of the utility's distribution system and caused an estimated $110 million to $140 million in damage. Council members questioned whether better preparation could have shortened the widespread outages that affected the city's most vulnerable residents.
"I heard a lot of patting on the back during this meeting. And the reality is that our leadership failed throughout the storm, and it has been failing throughout many storms," Sandra Sepulveda said.
Staffing emerged as a major concern during council discussions. NES typically employs around 240 transmission and distribution workers, but had to ramp up to nearly 1,900 linemen during the crisis through contractors and mutual aid agreements.
"And I'm hoping that we can look closely at increased staffing in these critical areas," Teresa Broyles-Aplin said.
Broyles-Aplin serves as president and CEO of Nashville Electric Service.
Communication failures also drew sharp criticism from council members. Some residents received notifications that their power had been restored, only to return home and discover it remained out. NES attributed the inaccurate updates to overloaded systems and sectionalized circuits.
"We will address communications, outage information, and outage map improvements. We will conduct a comprehensive review of the storm-related communications and outage map, and other tools that were provided," Broyles-Aplin said.
Council members pressed the utility about its critical referral list and whether medically vulnerable residents receive direct outreach during extended outages. NES says it is working to strengthen that process.
The utility has launched an independent after-action review and is reevaluating its emergency leadership structure, communication tools, staffing levels, and long-term resiliency plans, including undergrounding power lines and vegetation management.
"We've learned a lot in this storm, and we really appreciate all of the interest from you all. Your interest has pushed us and felt us to do even better," Broyles-Aplin said.
Council members made clear they expect concrete answers and improvements before the next major storm hits Nashville.
"We need to have a shared plan about what it looks like to plan for these disasters. More will be coming. We know winter is not even over, and spring storms are just ahead," SEIU organizer Marley Albert said.
Metro Council members also questioned department heads from the Office of Emergency Management, Metro Water Services, Nashville Department of Transportation and Metro Police about their storm responses.
This story was reported on-air by journalist Kelsey Gibbs and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
During a week when it seems that frustration is the prevailing sentiment felt across middle Tennessee amid ongoing power outages, Forrest Sanders brings us a story of love, faithfulness and a remarkable family... plus, a little humor on the side. Enjoy!
- Carrie Sharp
