63,000 NES customers still without power nearly week after ice storm

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — More than 63,000 Nashville Electric Service customers are still without power Friday morning, nearly a week after an ice storm rocked the Midstate.

The winter storm arrived in Middle Tennessee Saturday, with many customers reporting outages as early as Saturday. Almost a week later, FOX 17 News continues to ask NES is they were prepared enough for the storm.

The number of outages did decrease significantly from Sunday night, where more than 210,000 customers were without power, but the outage impact has prompted questions about if NES was staffed appropriately after the storm.

What’s the current situation?

As of Friday afternoon at 4:30 p.m., NES is reporting 63,832 customers without power. Line workers continue working extended 14-hour to 16-hour shifts and have restored power to 160,000 customers.

Crews also fixed 108 broken poles out of more than 500 total in the service area. NES says one broken pole takes 8-10 hours for one crew to fix, so if your area has a broken pole, it will take longer to restore.

NES has 1,100 line workers restoring power, along with about 900 additional support personnel, including members of the National Guard. NES anticipates more than 1,700 field personnel by Saturday morning.

NES announced in a press conference Friday that the utility company is creating a new tool where you can plug in your address and see if a crew is actively working on your circuit or if your power has been restored for those who have relocated. There is not set time the tool will be released, but President and CEO Teresa Broyles-Aplin hopes it will be live by Friday night.

“I believe customers will have power in two weeks, but I would like to refine that for customers so that each each neighborhood, they’ll know what they need to plan for,” Broyles-Aplin says.

Broyles-Aplin also hopes to give customers more approximate restoration times soon.

Additionally, NES is currently halting power disconnections and waiving fees amid winter storm recovery.

Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s response to outages

On Thursday, Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell has called NES’ leadership response “successful”, but later said he was “not satisfied” with restoration efforts.

How many customers lost power?

At the peak of the outages, 230,000 people were without power. NES company officials say this is the most they could ever recall.

“This is probably on record as the most severe outage NES has ever had,” said Brent Baker, NES Chief Operations & Innovation Officer.

What areas are seeing the most impacts?

The areas seeing the most outages are as follows:

• Forest Hills
• Green Hills
• Bellevue
• Belle Meade
• West Nashville
• Goodlettsville
• Melrose/Berry Hill
• Antioch/Cane Ridge

NES is restoring power to areas where the largest number of customers reside first.

How many line workers did NES staff?

As of Monday mid-day, NES reported having about 300 line workers staffed with that number growing to 500 by night. FOX 17 News found neighboring Middle Tennessee Electric began the day with 467 line workers, ending the day with 607 line workers. MTE reported about 8,000 outages, at the time. NES was dealing with approximately 175,000 outages, about 21 times more.

MTE serves more than 359,000 customers. NES serves about 470,000.

As of Tuesday morning, NES reported they would deploy more than 740 line workers to restore power, then confirmed it was 700 by the afternoon. As of Thursday, NES deployed1,004 line workers, along with about 900 additional support personnel, including members of the National Guard.

This is a drastic change from their typical staffed day of 210 line workers.

Did NES turn away line workers?

As FOX 17 News first reported Tuesday night, the station received droves of comments, emails and phone calls accusing the NES of denying help from union workers during restoration efforts.

NES denied those claims during a press conference Wednesday, stating it did not refuse assistance from union contractors or International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) crews.

Despite that pushback, FOX 17 News reviewed emails that show contractors were told their help was not needed at this time. Baker clarifies that NES first works with established utility partners.

On Wednesday afternoon, the vice president of the tenth district of IBEW posted the following statement:

“Reports of IBEW line crews being turned away from helping Nashville recover from the ongoing winter storm are unequivocally false.

“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.

“Because of the scale of outages across many states and jurisdictions, this process has taken longer than anyone would have liked. IBEW line crews have worked round-the-clock shifts since the weekend from Texas to Maine and at all points in between, and are working with utilities at every opportunity, including here in Nashville.

“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 early 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 non-stop on behalf of NES customers.

“Rest assured, IBEW lineworkers are the best-trained, most professional and hardworking crews in the industry, and we expect power to be restored in short order.

“NES customers are understandably frustrated and looking to blame someone for the damage this extreme weather has brought to the region, but Mayor O’Connell and officials at NES have diligently sought the IBEW’s help, and we’ve been working for days behind the scenes to identify additional personnel under challenging and complex circumstances.

“Please thank a line crew if you see them out restoring power this week. They are the real heroes, often working 18-hour shifts, far from home in freezing temperatures, to bring the system back online.”

Additionally, NES said Thursday that they have been able to add to their workforce with current contracts and mutual aid partnerships.

“Safely restoring power to all customers is always our top priority,” NES wrote in a press release. “In terms of utilizing outside crews, integrating new crews into a live electric system is challenging. We will not and cannot compromise safety. Linemen must be qualified, trained on our system, insured, and integrated into our safety and operations protocols. Mutual aid ensures crews meet those criteria.”

NES confirms it currently has both IBEW and SIEU union employees helping in restoration efforts. However, they haven’t clearly addressed which contractors may have been denied or when specifically IBEW workers were brought on. NES leaders emphasized safety concerns in only working with contractors who have been properly vetted.

Power outages across the Midstate

As of Friday morning, Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation has 689 outages, Middle Tennessee Electric has 6 outages, CDE Lightband has 0 outages, Duck River Electric has 2 outages and Columbia Power & Water Systems has 3 outages.

Monitoring NES’ outages

NES advises against calling 911 for power outages to keep lines open for emergencies. However, if you see a downed power line, call 911 immediately and stay away, assuming it is live and dangerous.

NES says customers can stay updated by checking the NES outage map, by texting OUT to 637797 (NESPWR) from the phone number linked to your account, or by calling (615) 234 0000.