Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, described Tuesday’s four-hour Metro Nashville Council meeting reviewing Nashville Electric Service’s (NES) response to Winter Storm Fern as highly choreographed.
“I think it was a very scripted event when it comes to what the executives and the board members had to say,” Pappert said on Wednesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, agreeing with criticism that the utility’s leaders relied on prepared remarks rather than directly answering questions.
He pointed specifically to NES executives’ acknowledgment that the utility company did not perform extra tree trimming or vegetation management before Winter Storm Fern, and noted that a board member suggested NES was caught off guard because forecasts indicated Memphis would receive the worst of the storm.
“I’m not so sure whether that is accurate or whether a power company should be hedging on that excuse,” Pappert added.
He said the most striking moment came when a lineman addressed the council and urged that the issue not become partisan.
“I frankly thought the guy was being used because he works for a bunch of liberals. The board is full of liberals, it’s a political club masquerading as a power utility company,” Pappert said.
He noted that the lineman identified himself as a “conservative Republican” and warned against politicizing the issue.
Pappert maintained, “I think that it was scripted to the nth degree, and I think that they should be ashamed of themselves for that performance.”
Looking ahead to a planned “after action report” by a commission that includes Metro Council members and mayoral appointees, Pappert expressed skepticism about accountability.
“People have died [and] they’re desperately clinging to their jobs,” he said.
Tune in now to The Michael Patrick Leahy Show – your AMERICA FIRST news talk!
– Watch LIVE here on X
– Watch LIVE on Roku
– Listen on Spotify
– Listen on WENO AM760 in Nashville
– Read more at @TheTNStarhttps://t.co/a7Gcu1W7O7— Michael Patrick Leahy (@michaelpleahy) February 11, 2026
– – –
Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “NES Meeting” by Fox Nashville.
