Republicans in Tennessee have blamed “woke” policies for major power outages that have seen Nashville residents plunged into darkness amid recent winter storms.
“[Nashville Electric Service] was so focused on woke policies and DEI that it failed at its most basic responsibility: keeping the power on,” GOP Senator Marsha Blackburn wrote on X. “Despite ample warning, its failure to adequately prepare left thousands in the dark – it’s time for new leadership at NES.”
In his own post, GOP Rep. Cameron Sexton wrote: “Nashville Electric Service’s lack of a strategic disaster relief plan, pro-tree canopy policy and being more concerned about a DEI contract renewal – all of which jeopardized public safety – requires executive management to be fired and the board to be replaced.”
It comes after power outages in Tennessee stretched into a second week following the “historic” weather events. Around 6,000 customers still don’t have power 11 days after the storm, according to NBC.
Two people were reportedly found dead of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning with generators nearby, in Davidson County, following miscommunication over power being returned.
The Independent has contacted NES for comment about the ongoing outages.
The Republican claims center on seemingly cherry-picked details about NES operations to push its so-called “woke” theory, including circulating a report on the number of DEI training sessions held by the company and a significant decrease in spending on vegetation management.
Conservative media also pointed to remarks made by NES CEO Teresa Broyles-Aplin last year, who said she did not “want us out destroying the canopy.”
On Thursday NES’s attempts to mitigate the situation were still being met with hostility from the community. “Too little. Too late,” wrote one person, in response to a company post offering generators to those who remained without power.
Criticism has also been leveled at the power company by Democrats, including from Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell, who criticized the speed with which NES responded to the outages and described the lack of transparency as “unacceptable.”
“Nashvillians can’t get the last week back—nights huddled under blankets, unplanned shelter or hotel stays, the uncertainty and fear of not knowing what’s happening and how long it will take to simply return home,” O’Connell said Sunday.
Democrats have rejected the GOP’s assertions that the breakdown was due to “woke” policies.
“Marsha Blackburn knows it wasn’t DEI that caused this to happen,” Rep. Jason Powell, who has since filed a bill to ensure electric companies with 10,000 customers or more have grid-resiliency plans, told NBC.
