U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn demands answers from NES
The Tennessean
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn is taking aim at Nashville Electric Service, sending the utility’s President and CEO Teresa Broyles-Aplin an angry letter that demands a response to a set of six questions by Monday, Feb. 2.
The Tennessean requested a comment from NES about the letter on Saturday, Jan. 31. The utility replied via email that it was working on a response.
In her letter, sent Jan. 30, Blackburn, R-TN, references reporting by The Tennessean and other media outlets as she expresses “concerns with the Nashville Electric Service’s handling of Winter StormFern.”
She notes the tens of thousands of homes and businesses still without power, a situation she calls unacceptable, and praised the hundreds of linemen who were working around the clock to restore service in dangerous conditions.
“The failure to adequately prepare for Winter Storm Fern is precisely the reason line crews are working overtime and citizens are clearing limbs and debris at great risk to their own safety to help friends and neighbors,” Blackburn’s letter reads. It also says many customers have been falsely notified that power had been restored to their homes due to failures in NES’s automated notification system. She adds that even though Metro leadership requested a clear timeline for power restoration, customers haven’t been provided with reliable information “during an ongoing emergency.
“Your continued inability to provide a clear message that includes a timeline for people to expect a restoration of service raises serious concerns about preparedness and management,” the letter says … “This disruption (the linemen) are working to correct reflects a failure of leadership and planning, one that could have been mitigated with thoughtful preparation ahead of the storm.
“You owe your customers transparency, accountability, and a clear explanation of how thisbreakdown occurred and how you will prevent this from happening in the future.”
Blackburn’s questions are below:
- According to reporting by The Tennessean, experienced linemen offered to aid with storm recovery, but Nashville Electric Service declined the offer, stating it already had sufficient resources. Why did NES turn down that offer for additional personnel during a widespread outage of this magnitude?
- Given the lessons learned from past devastating storms, such as Nashville’s 1994 ice storm, why was NES not adequately prepared for Winter Storm Fern, despite ample warning and clear historical precedent?
- Forecasts warned days in advance that this would be a generational severe weather event. Why were recovery operations and service restoration plans not fully prepared and mobilized ahead of time?
- Why has there been such inconsistency in power restoration updates, with many customers being told their power has been restored when it has not, particularly given NES’s acknowledgment that it recently implemented a new outage notification and tracking system?
- Residents in some areas have been told they may be without power for up to two weeks. How does NES consider that timeline acceptable, especially for residents who rely on electricity for life-sustaining medical equipment and other critical needs?
- Due to extended outages, many residents had no choice but to seek temporary lodging. Will NES be reimbursing customers for expenses incurred during this period?