Fire NES executives after storm? Easier said than done
Fire NES executives after storm? Easier said than done
Winter storm damage in Warner Parks
More than 2,100 trees lie on trails in Warner Parks.
Provided by Jenny Hannon
- Nashville Electric Service contended with a historic winter storm that left 230,000 customers without power at its peak and caused upwards of $140 million in damage to Nashville’s power grid.
- Mayor Freddie O’Connell has heard repeated calls to fire members of the NES board or its CEO, Teresa Broyles-Aplin.
From the height of Winter Storm Fern to the recovery efforts that continue in its aftermath, discussion about how to rectify what went wrong has boiled down to a simple solution for some: fire the people in charge.
By that, the Nashvillians asking for a leadership change mean at Nashville Electric Service, which contended with a historic winter storm that left 230,000 customers without power at its peak and caused upwards of $140 million in damage to Nashville’s power grid. Outages extended for days as many of those customers were left in the dark amid freezing temperatures.
As those outages continued, Mayor Freddie O’Connell faced the question of whether he was looking at options to remove the head of Nashville Electric Service, or the appointed members of the Electric Power Board that hires the CEO, on a daily basis during briefings about the status of city storm recovery efforts.
NES President and CEO Teresa Broyles-Aplin, meanwhile, has been repeatedly asked if she plans to step down from her role.
Other local leaders have also weighed in. Tennessee GOP leaders have threatened a state-led overhaul of the public utility, with House Speaker Cameron Sexton calling explicitly for Broyles-Aplin to be replaced. Some Metro Nashville Council members have even introduced a resolution urging the Electric Power Board to do just that, which the council will consider at its Feb. 17 meeting.
But who actually has the authority to remove members of the NES board or its top executive? Here’s what to know.
Who can remove NES board members?
O’Connell has heard repeated calls to oust NES leadership, particularly the city’s Electric Power Board, because members of that volunteer five-person board are appointed by the Nashville mayor and confirmed by the Nashville Council.
O’Connell has only appointed two of those board members himself: Clifton Harris in 2024 and Ian Prunty in 2025. The others — Chair Anne Davis, Vice-Chair Robert McCabe and Cassandra Santos — were all appointed by previous mayors, though he served as a council member when each of them was confirmed between 2021 and 2023.
O’Connell has previously consulted with the Metro Department of Law to assess his options for removing board members, but he confirmed that his hands are tied on that front.
“We do not have the legal authority,” O’Connell told reporters during a Feb. 6 news conference.
City code states that appointed members of boards and commissions may be removed from office by a three-fourths vote of the council’s full membership, which O’Connell also noted last week. That means any successful removal would require 30 affirmative votes from the 40-member council.
Neither this section of the code nor the chapter on Nashville’s mayor and vice mayor positions say anything about the mayor’s power to remove board or commission members unilaterally.
What about the NES CEO?
The power to remove leadership at NES falls under the purview of the Electric Power Board.
But taking that step doesn’t appear likely, judging from statements from board members earlier this week. On Feb. 9, the Electric Power Board held a special meeting that included approving an independent review of the utility’s storm response.
“I think we did a superb job operationally,” said McCabe, the board vice-chair.
Another board member, Santos, was asked about how NES performed in handling the storm and whether the board shared any responsibility during a Feb. 10 joint council committee meeting.
“The board’s responsibility is hiring our CEO, and I think our CEO is doing an excellent job at NES,” Santos told council members. “I think NES got power back in 13 days. Are there things that could have been done better? Yes, we think there are, and so does the whole team at NES.”
That’s why Santos said the board signed off on that independent review, which she said will be of “everyone on down,” from the board to NES management.
Austin Hornbostel is the Metro reporter for The Tennessean. Have a question about local government you want an answer to? Reach him with questions, tips and story ideas at ahornbostel@tennessean.com.