Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is gunning for the Nashville Electric Service (NES) as thousands of Nashville residents remain without power — more than a week after Winter Storm Fern wreaked havoc on the area — and some may not see their power restored for another ten days.
Blackburn argued that NES had had spent more time focusing on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives than on the kind of preparation that could have helped them manage a massive winter storm more efficiently.
“The Nashville Electric Service held 102 DEI-related training sessions by the end of 2024. They should’ve been using those resources to trim trees and bury utilities. This is what happens when companies put woke politics over the needs of the people they serve,” she posted on Sunday.
Blackburn also sent a letter directly to NES demanding answers regarding the still unfolding situation in her home state — as well as a detailed plan explaining how the company planned to prevent anything similar from happening again.
“The failure to adequately prepare for Winter Storm Fern is precisely the reason line crews are working overtime and citizens are clearing limbs and debris at great risk to their own safety to help friends and neighbors,” Blackburn wrote in the letter. “This disruption (crew members in the field) are working to correct reflects a failure of leadership and planning, one that could have been mitigated with thoughtful preparation ahead of the storm. You owe your customers transparency, accountability, and a clear explanation of how this breakdown occurred and how you will prevent this from happening in the future.”
Blackburn gave NES a deadline of February 2 and laid out six key questions she wanted addressed. She posted the letter itself on X, adding, “By failing to properly prepare for Winter Storm Fern, @NESpower put Tennesseans in harm’s way. NES owes its customers transparency, accountability, and a clear explanation for why thousands of people remain without power. I’m demanding answers to ensure this can’t happen again.”
- “According to reporting by The Tennessean, experienced linemen offered to aid with storm recovery, but Nashville Electric Service declined the offer, stating it already had sufficient resources. Why did NES turn down that offer for additional personnel during a widespread outage of this magnitude?”
- “Given the lessons learned from past devastating storms, such as Nashville’s 1994 ice storm, why was NES not adequately prepared for Winter Storm Fern, despite ample warning and clear historical precedent?”
- “Forecasts warned days in advance that this would be a generational severe weather event. Why were recovery operations and service restoration plans not fully prepared and mobilized ahead of time?”
- “Why has there been such inconsistency in power restoration updates, with many customers being told their power has been restored when it has not, particularly given NES’s acknowledgment that it recently implemented a new outage notification and tracking system?”
- “Residents in some areas have been told they may be without power for up to two weeks. How does NES consider that timeline acceptable, especially for residents who rely on electricity for life-sustaining medical equipment and other critical needs?”
- “Due to extended outages, many residents had no choice but to seek temporary lodging. Will NES be reimbursing customers for expenses incurred during this period?”
NES responded to Blackburn’s letter on Saturday, and the Tennessee Senator posted that letter as well — and said that their answers were not good enough.
“@NESPower’s response to my letter is entirely insufficient. The company refused to take any accountability and is forcing Tennesseans to wait another week for full restoration of power. This is unacceptable. Whoever is responsible for this breakdown should be fired,” she said.
.@NESpower’s response to my letter is entirely insufficient. The company refused to take any accountability and is forcing Tennesseans to wait another week for full restoration of power.
This is unacceptable. Whoever is responsible for this breakdown should be fired. pic.twitter.com/ptaDtZC9mi
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) February 1, 2026
In the letter, NES explained that half of the people in their entire service area (about 230,000) had lost power when the storm first hit, and that power had been restored to all but 44,000 of them. The remaining homes without power, NES assured Blackburn, would be back online within another week.
But some individual cases may prove to be more difficult, as one local investigative reporter described a situation currently affecting a viewer who had written him: “Wow! From viewer regarding Nashville Electric Service issue: ‘We can’t report an outage at a single residence after others around us have been restored. We report it, and the system immediately responds that it has been restored. Neighbors have power, but we have not due to a line down in the back yard. If it doesn’t stay on the NES list as needing repair, we may never get power restored. We have been in our house for 6+ days without power, like the rest of Nashville. It’s 38-40 degrees in the house. We run a generator intermittently, and we are doing better than most. But to not be able to reliably report an outage is absurd.’”
Wow! From viewer regarding Nashville Electric Service issue: “We can’t report an outage at a single residence after others around us have been restored. We report it, and the system immediately responds that it has been restored. Neighbors have power, but we have not due to a… pic.twitter.com/bH9E6k7JLm
— Phil Williams (@PhilNvestigates) January 31, 2026
Blackburn made it clear on Sunday that she was frustrated with the leadership at NES, not the rank and file employees.
“The linemen who are on the ground making repairs and working in the frigid temperatures to restore power are the unsung heroes of the response to this horrible winter storm. So grateful for these men and women,” she said.
