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A resolution expressing a lack of confidence in the performance and leadership of Electric Power Board of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County for its failures during Winter Storm Fern.
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WHEREAS, Winter Storm Fern brought severe and prolonged freezing conditions to Nashville and Davidson County, resulting in widespread outages that left large portions of the community without heat, electricity, or essential services for extended periods; and
WHEREAS, Nashville Electric Service (“NES”) did not adequately prepare its infrastructure, nor request adequate line workers for the operations for the emergency; and
WHEREAS, this failure placed residents, particularly our vulnerable populations, at significant risk, strained emergency services, and eroded public trust in NES’s ability to fulfill its obligations to the community; and
WHEREAS, in the days and weeks and months after the storm, the Electric Power Board of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County (“Electric Power Board”) provided no accountability for NES’s failures during and after the storm; and
WHEREAS, members of the board did not and have not questioned various important pieces of NES’ failures, including whether enough staff and contractors were prepared to work before the storm began; and
WHEREAS, members of the board have not called for disciplinary action of NES staff members as a result of this storm response; and
WHEREAS, the Electric Power Board received an interim after-action report on April 15, 2026, that detailed multiple NES failures during the course of the winter storm; and
WHEREAS, the report confirmed what was already known. There were not enough line workers called in before the storm, and additional failures included an emergency response plan incapable of enduring a large-scale disaster, an incident command structure without necessary continuity, a failure to create a damage prediction model or a reliable method to estimate resource needs, delay calculation and communication of estimated times of restoration, and a failure to coordinate communications to support in real time; and
WHEREAS, the Electric Power Board has itself become complicit in the failures of the utility service and shares responsibility for its inability to properly respond from the winter storm; and
WHEREAS, the full report will not change the fact that NES was unprepared for a nationwide storm, with over a week of notice, and that there are staff members that were responsible for crisis response that failed to act, and
WHEREAS, for the reasons outlined above, the Metropolitan Council has lost confidence in the ability of Electric Power Board of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County to operate and supervise Nashville Electric Service.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT OF NASHVILLE AND DAVIDSON COUNTY:
Section 1. The Metropolitan Council hereby goes on record as expressing a lack of confidence in the leadership, preparedness, and operational performance of the Electric Power Board of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County during Winter Storm Fern.
Section 2. This Resolution shall take effect from and after its adoption, the welfare of the Metropolitan Government requiring it.