Image Credit: Martin B. Cherry / Nashville Banner
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by Stephen Elliott [The Nashville Banner, Creative Commons] –
Outside consultants have delivered a final after-action report commissioned by the Electric Power Board in the wake of a winter storm that left half of Nashville Electric Service’s customers without power earlier this year, some for as long as 12 days.
The report — like a preliminary version issued in April — identifies a series of faults in NES’ response to the power outages, including in the public utility’s emergency planning, public communications and onboarding of outside repair crews. NES’ response to the storm has triggered a series of reviews and recriminations, and Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s separate Winter Storm Commission continues to work on its own report, which will analyze NES’ response but also Metro’s.
The new report estimates that “earlier arrival of external resources could have reduced the overall restoration duration by approximately two to five days.” But the consultants also acknowledge some of the hurdles in NES’ way, including that a shifting storm forecast kept some regional power crews tied to their home districts and unable to head to Nashville until later.
The review was based on 60 interviews and 176 data requests, and it includes 58 recommendations for improvement. NES CEO Teresa Broyles-Aplin told the board that utility leaders have already made progress on many of the recommendations and are working to incorporate the rest.
One of the report’s authors from PA Consulting told the Electric Power Board on Wednesday that NES has been “very willing and accepting” of outside help during the storm response, which is “not very common” in the industry. He added that the response resulted in “less than positive” customer experiences but an “outstanding” safety outcome.
The utility has made updates to its various emergency plans and has scheduled drills, one of the recommendations from the consultants. NES is also reconfiguring its communications operations, most of which had been outsourced to public relations firms.
“We really need more communications people embedded in our operations,” Broyles-Aplin said, “people who sit through staff meetings every week.”
The report also flagged tree trimming as a major source of the delay in restoring power. NES has ramped up its trimming in recent months and is currently back on track to meet its four-year trimming plan, Broyles-Aplin said. NES has also changed its trimming policy, extending the distance around lines that limbs must be pruned. Some community members and Metro Councilmembers have questioned the new policy, highlighting disfigured trees, but NES officials confirmed their commitment to the changes.
The Electric Power Board is also preparing for the arrival of new board members. The Tennessee General Assembly, as part of its own reaction to the storm, passed a law giving surrounding counties that include NES customers representation on the board starting in 2027. And board chair Anne Davis’ term concludes at the end of this month.
O’Connell said on Wednesday that he is appointing Jaz Boon, an attorney at Sherrard Roe and formerly with Bridgestone, to the seat. Sherrard Roe was one of the firms tasked with overseeing the after-action report.
“The NES review is a critical piece of data for my Winter Storm Commission as they consider the public testimony and information gathered in recent weeks from Metro agencies and partners about the broader government response for their forthcoming report,” O’Connell said. “This is how accountability works: identify the gaps, commit to solutions, execute with transparency, and report progress. Nashville is doing that together.”
