Nashville Electric Service (NES) Board Chair Anne Davis told The Tennessee Star on Monday that the continued employment of NES CEO Teresa Broyles-Aplin will depend on the findings of an independent audit of the company’s performance during Winter Storm Fern.
“Based on NES’ performance during the ice storm, it is clear that many improvements need to be made to prepare for future disasters,” Davis told The Star.
Davis (pictured above) added, “The board is conducting an independent ‘After Action Review’ related to the entirety of the NES response and will make decisions concerning all future corrective actions, including personnel, following this independent and comprehensive evaluation.”
The Monday statement comes after Davis defended Broyles-Aplin amid criticism for the company’s preparation and response to the storm, which saw about half of the company’s 470,000 customers lose power, including some who did not have service restored for more than a week.
“We have confidence in our leadership team at NES, and right now everyone is working on getting power back to all our customers,” Davis told Fox 17 reporter Karen Aguilar on February 4. “As far as whether the storm response could have been done differently or better, that’s something we will be looking at after this crisis is over.”
Davis appeared to partially modify her position last week, stating the company “did not live up to the standards Nashville has come to expect,” but did not name NES leadership.
At the federal level, U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) urged Broyles-Aplin to resign last week and previously called for firings and replacements at NES during a Senate floor speech.
Locally, a resolution under consideration by the Metro Nashville Council would call on the NES board to fire Broyles-Aplin.
The resolution would not be binding, as only the board can terminate the company’s top executive. Members of the NES board are appointed by Nashville’s mayor and may be removed by a supermajority vote of the Metro Council.
Multiple communities surrounding Nashville are also either seeking representation on the NES board or permission to source their electricity from a competing provider.
Some appear to have the support of U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05), who has urged the Tennessee General Assembly to reshape the company’s board to include representation from surrounding communities.
State House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) said lawmakers are considering their options.
The statement by Davis notably comes only days after Broyles-Aplin declined to evaluate her performance following the storm during an interview, declaring it was “not a fair question” in response to a Nashville Business Journal reporter who asked her to offer a letter grade for her leadership during Winter Storm Fern.
– – –
Tom Pappert is a 2025 recipient of the Dao Prize and the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star. He also reports for the Star News Network. Follow Tom on X. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Anne Davis” by Nashville Electric Service.
Again, this is a result from another WOKE CEO whose main priority was to indoctrinate her employees with DEI and Marxist ideology! Where do companies find these people? I’m so glad I have MTE and not NES.
You know its bad when : Anne Davis is a prominent Nashville-based attorney and environmental advocate with a long-standing commitment to sustainability and community service. She served as the Managing Attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center
So they made an environmentalist the Chair.