As tens of thousands of Nashville households remain without power in the wake of a historic winter ice storm, Mayor Freddie O’Connell has commended Nashville Electric Service’s response efforts — though he’s now signalling that more direct communication from the company could help ease citizen concerns.
The mayor’s office has held daily press briefings since Sunday, each of them featuring comments from representatives of Metro’s emergency departments and NES. NES was absent from Thursday’s press conference, however, and held its own media availability event shortly after.
Top officials warn widespread power outages will last at least 'through the weekend'
Power outages across Davidson County peaked at around 220,000 Sunday, with that number now standing at more than 84,000 — NES has continued to call its response a “multiday event” with no clear timeline.
“I think to get to about 50 percent of the largest outage in their history recovered within 72 hours, more than 100,000 power restorations that they accomplished … I think that's a sign of [NES’] success,” O’Connell said Thursday.
O’Connell indicated that Metro has some of the same questions for NES that are being asked by many Nashvillians who still lack electricity — including questions about what communities NES staff is working in and what conditions could be delaying restoration.
“I think the thing that would help everybody is understanding predicted timelines, maybe even the visualization of how difficult some of these scenarios are to get to to restore lines,” O’Connell said. “I mean, if you have been around the city, you've seen what I've seen, which is trees just entangled in power lines all over the city. And that's just a very, very challenging infrastructure dynamic to deal with, but they need, I think, to continue helping the city understand exactly the challenges they're confronting.”
When asked if he thought NES was prepared for the storm, O’Connell said, “No one is prepared for historic events.”
“On the day that the unexpected and magnitude happens, you can't be fully prepared for that,” he said. “Were they prepared to scale up with using mutual aid contracts and working with partners like [the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers] to bring in more labor? Yes, they were.”
Thousands of Nashvillians remain without power as storm impact nears seventh day
Brent Baker, the NES vice president overseeing power restoration efforts, appeared with NES CEO Teresa Broyles-Aplin on Thursday afternoon at the utility’s Church Street headquarters.
Broyles-Aplin repeatedly emphasized the historic nature of the ice storm while Baker fielded pointed questions from reporters who all wanted to know the same thing: what’s taking so long. Baker’s answers hopped from the county’s widespread damage, to crews, to safety measures, to workers’ incomplete information about the power grid.
“The goal is to complete power restoration,” Baker said in opening remarks. “We have to make sure we do not sacrifice the safety of our crews, and we will not take shortcuts just to add more crews and to make sure we get that done faster.”
As of Thursday afternoon, more than 85,000 customers are still without electricity and about 300 utility poles are down. The power company has more than 1,000 linemen out working and is vetting many more, Baker said, though he would not say whether the company has turned away contractors.
Some — including Maura-Lee Albert, a union organizer for NES employees — have criticized NES for understaffing. Seattle City Light, for example, serves 513,000 customers with 1,800 employees, while NES has fewer than 1,000 employees for 470,000 customers.
“ I'm not aware of a shortage,” Broyles-Aplin told media in response to a question from the Scene about staffing. “ That's not something the union has brought forward to us. We have a robust workforce. We are continuously hiring, and it's all to support our community. I'm not aware of any such issue.”
The Metro Nashville Police Department announced a fourth death possibly connected to the winter storm, which involved a 92-year-old man believed to have died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning caused by a generator.
Around 40 National Guard troops are actively working in Davidson County with debris and brush cleanup. Office of Emergency Services Director-Chief Will Swann said this is the National Guard’s sole responsibility, and they are not providing support at shelters or welfare checks. Officials with Metro pushed back against rumors that there were delays in accepting help from the National Guard.
“The thought that Nashville-Davidson County will not receive aid from any entity is not true,” Swann said. “We're open to all assistance and help.”
On Jan. 28, Gov. Bill Lee requested President Donald Trump grant an expedited major disaster declaration for 23 Tennessee counties, including Davidson.
