NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Nashville city officials held their first in-person press conference addressing the ongoing power crisis as 108,000 Nashville Electric Service customers remain without power following a devastating winter storm that brought freezing rain and ice to Middle Tennessee.
I attended the press conference where all of the city's emergency leaders gathered to answer questions about the massive restoration effort. The uncertainty surrounding power restoration has created stress and frustration for residents, especially those dealing with cold temperatures in their homes.
As of 4 p.m., NES lineworkers have restored power to 122,000 customers since the storm began, but significant challenges remain. The utility company has identified at least 380 broken poles across the service area - a dramatic increase from the estimated 300 poles reported earlier.
"There are parts that look completely normal and there are parts of the county that look like they've exploded. Their power poles down on multiple roads, stretches of roadways are impassable," Mayor Freddie O'Connell said during the press conference. "So even getting that assessment through all of that has been even more challenging. That's one of the reasons we've continued every day to scale capacity to get through that."
Massive restoration effort underway
NES has deployed more than 930 lineworkers to continue restoration efforts, with crews working extended 14-16 hour shifts in rotations. The utility currently has lineworkers from Florida, Maryland, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Mississippi and Tennessee in the field. Additionally, 215 vegetation management team members and supplemental contract teams have been deployed to help crews reach their work sites efficiently.
Multiple areas across Davidson County have outages affecting 1,000 customers or more, including Nashville/Bellevue, Cane Ridge, Brentwood, Forest Hills, North Nashville/Brick Church, Hendersonville, South Nashville/Edgehill/Elysian Fields, East Nashville/Rosebank, Whites Creek and Joelton, Donelson, and Antioch.
When I asked about priority areas and whether they've identified lower-income or senior living areas to prioritize, city leaders said their focus is bringing the largest groups of people online as soon as possible. NES follows standard utility practices of restoring power to areas affecting the greatest number of customers first.
"Regardless of where a customer lives, every customer is important, and our lineworkers are working hard to restore power to every last customer," NES stated. "No one will be forgotten or left behind; however, utility prioritization practices are to restore the greatest number of customers first."
National Guard activated to help
The National Guard has been activated for counties statewide, including Davidson County, to help the Tennessee Department of Transportation clear roadways and assist with power restoration efforts.
Fire Chief William Swann explained the National Guard's role: "Their job will be to remove trees and help our NES partners, our TDOT partners, to remove debris. That's their role and objective and their only objective to assist us and help us restore power."
Officials hope help from the National Guard will allow for quicker debris removal and faster power restoration, especially in the hardest-hit areas.
Addressing rumors about rejected help
Concerns had circulated on social media that NES turned away help from union linemen from other states instead of utilizing their assistance. City leaders and NES officials addressed these rumors directly.
Jessica Stewart with SEIU Local 205 said: "The rumors circulating on social media are nothing more than rumors started by people without the full picture of behind-the-scenes efforts from Mayor O'Connell or NES, who actively reached out to my office earlier in the storm and have been working closely with us since. As of this morning, additional IBEW crews are either already working with NES or en route to the area and will be working nonstop on behalf of NES customers."
NES clarified their position on outside help: "While other companies have offered support, which is greatly appreciated, we have been able to grow our workforce with current contracts and mutual aid partnerships. Safely restoring power to all customers is always our top priority."
The utility explained that integrating new crews into a live electric system is challenging and requires specific safety protocols. Linemen must be qualified, trained on NES's system, insured, and integrated into safety and operations protocols before they can work on the lines.
Customer responsibilities and safety
NES is asking customers to ensure their homes are ready to receive power. If weatherheads, power masts, or meter bases are damaged, lineworkers cannot safely reconnect power. While NES maintains and repairs the lines leading to customers' homes, homeowners are responsible for equipment on their houses and should contact licensed electricians for repairs.
Officials continue to stress safety around downed power lines. Residents should stay away from downed lines and always assume they are live and dangerous. If someone sees a downed power line, they should call 911 immediately.
For power outages, customers should not call 911 but instead report outages by texting OUT to 637797 (NESPWR) from the phone number linked to their account or by calling (615) 234-0000.
Ongoing challenges
Part of the difficulty in providing restoration timelines stems from the fact that trees and branches continue falling and downing more power lines, creating new outages even as crews work to restore others.
City leaders acknowledge that patience is wearing thin among residents, but they encourage people to maintain hope knowing that crews are working around the clock. This once-in-a-generation storm will require a days-long restoration effort, though officials cannot specify exactly how many days that will take.
NES has added a Storm Q&A section to its outages web page to answer frequently asked questions and now provides a detailed color map showing which neighborhoods have power restored and which areas still have outages.
The work continues to evolve constantly as crews assess damage and work to restore power to the 108,000 customers still without electricity.
I'll continue asking tough questions about Nashville's power restoration efforts. If you have concerns about the response or want to share what you're experiencing, email me at Amanda.Roberts@NewsChannel5.com.
This story was reported on-air by Amanda Roberts 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.
