NES customers receive high electric bills after ice storm outages

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) — Nashville Electric Service (NES) customers are receiving unexpectedly high electric bills following the recent ice storm, with some reporting charges hundreds of dollars above normal despite losing power for days.

David Mahurin said he was surprised when he opened his NES bill after losing almost a week of power during the storm.

“It was exactly the same usage as last year and actually a few more dollars than the previous month’s bill, that led me to believe that they didn’t bother to look at anything,” Mahurin said.

His bill also included a disconnection warning and late fees, despite NES saying they would waive such fees until June.

“They’ve explained that the help is going to come, you open up a bill like that and it still says, hey, you’ve got 24 hours to get us this money or we shut you back out again. It’s always just increased pressure,” Mahurin said.

On social media, dozens of people posted about receiving higher bills, with some claiming charges are hundreds of dollars more than normal or doubled.

“It just puts extra worry in your head. You’ve got enough going on as it is trying to fight through the storm and trying to make sure your family’s okay and that everybody around you is okay,” Mahurin said.

A possible explanation could be that temperatures were cooler in January and that it takes more power to reheat a home that lost electricity.

NES did not respond to multiple calls and emails seeking comment about the billing issues or why disconnection notices would appear on bills when those are suspended.

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