Hard-hit areas of Nashville should expect at least three more days without power, according to hopeful projections from city leaders. Mayor Freddie O’Connell and Nashville Electric Service executive Brent Baker declined to give specific timelines Wednesday, instead emphasizing that the ice storm damage is “unprecedented” and calling widespread power outages a “prolonged, multiday” event. Downed trees have taken out power lines and even entire utility poles, creating a nightmare repair situation for the city’s electrical crews.
“To give an exact timeline for all customers — it’s still going to be a day or so for us to give that clear endpoint, to try to get that definition,” Baker told reporters at a Wednesday press briefing. “Right now we are looking at through the weekend for sure. There are definitely going to be those last customers that are in those smaller pockets — after we get the main lines on — that could be longer.”
Sleet and freezing temperatures followed substantial snowfall on Saturday, leaving much of the city covered in thick ice. By Wednesday morning, more than 100,000 customers remained without power, down from a peak of more than 220,000 on Sunday.
“Use a plan B if you have it,” Nashville Fire Department Chief Will Swann told reporters Wednesday. “If you realize that you can go somewhere else, go ahead and pull that card. Use it now.”
Green Hills Councilmember Jeff Preptit told constituents on Tuesday to expect at least three more days without power. The area’s relatively low-density neighborhoods and wooded environment make work less time-efficient for NES crews, who prioritize getting as many people online as quickly as possible.
Roughly 135,000 homes and businesses are still without electricity during the biggest outage in NES history
“That is an optimistic and conservative expectation,” Preptit tells the Scene on Wednesday. “I was trying to give constituents the best-case scenario. Green Hills — given the number of old-growth trees — is one of the hardest-hit areas in the county.”
Preptit says that he’s been in constant communication with the mayor’s office, the Metro Office of Emergency Management and NES to get resources deployed to the area.
“By my own estimates, 90 percent of the district is still without power,” Preptit says. “I am myself in the exact same situation as my constituents — I’m without power, I don’t have WiFi, cell service is spotty. More realistic projections might mean some could be without power well into next week, or even further.”
NES' Baker told reporters that more than 900 linemen would be out working as of Tuesday night. While social media accounts and The Tennessean have reported that NES, whose employees are represented by Service Employees International Union, has turned away certain International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers linemen, Baker denies this.
“We are moving forward with as many crews as we can get and to continue to restore service,” Baker said on Tuesday. “I want to continue to thank SEIU, IBEW and all of our crews who have helped us get the work done and to get where we are. There is nobody here working harder than those people on the ground.”
An IBEW official also publicly denied the rumor on Wednesday.
“Reports of IBEW line crews being turned away from helping Nashville recover from the ongoing winter storm are unequivocally false,” reads the statement from Tenth District Vice President Brent Hall. “I have been in constant touch with Mayor Freddie O’Connell and executives from Nashville Electric Service since the storm hit, working to coordinate additional manpower to restore power to NES customers.”
City leaders from NES, OEM, the fire department, police and NDOT continue to provide daily updates alongside the mayor. They emphasize that multiple public warming shelters are still available.
