Nashville Electric CEO Pushed Tree Canopy Agenda Months Before Ice Storm Blackout

In the middle of the worst power outage in Nashville’s history, the woman at the helm of the city’s electric grid is under fire not just for her agency’s failure to keep the lights on, but for what many now see as a dangerously misplaced set of priorities.

Teresa Broyles-Aplin, CEO of Nashville Electric Service (NES), is being criticized for focusing more on preserving Nashville’s “tree canopy” than aggressively cutting back tree limbs that threatened power lines just months before a devastating ice storm tore through the city, downing trees, crippling infrastructure, and leaving over 230,000 homes and businesses without power.

Back in August, during an appearance on “Urban League Live,” Broyles-Aplin defended NES’s restrained approach to trimming, emphasizing “tree health” and “canopy preservation” over preemptive safety measures.

“We have to live here, too. I don’t want us out destroying the canopy,” she said. “We take a lot of pride in making sure we are cutting the trees in a healthy fashion.”

Fast forward to January 2026, and that philosophy has collided with brutal reality. Nashville’s power grid was brought to its knees as ice-laden trees crashed onto roads, homes, and most disastrously power lines. Days later, tens of thousands remain without electricity, even as temperatures drop into the single digits.

Tree service professionals and residents are now pointing to a dangerous failure of foresight by city leaders.

“If they maintained it better, there would be less power outages,” said Lucas Crenshaw, a Nashville-based arborist. Another local expert, Meagan Cowles, blasted NES’s trimming methods, saying the agency fails to meet professional standards for cutting distance and preparation.

NES claims they employ arborists and follow species-specific protocols. But as lines collapsed and transformers blew, residents were left asking why weren’t those trees cut further back from critical infrastructure?

Even worse, the agency has faced accusations of being unprepared and understaffed. Despite overseeing the 11th largest public utility in the nation, NES initially had just 200 linemen on hand when the storm hit. That number has since quadrupled, but only after days of delays and rising public pressure.

One NES lineman told Fox 17 Nashville the situation was predictable and preventable.

“You needed a minimum of 2,000 workers,” he said, suggesting NES may have delayed outside help to avoid paying union wages.

As of Thursday, Broyles-Aplin tried to do damage control, claiming that NES is working non-stop to restore service.

“Many of you are waking up to day #5 without power, which is a significant hardship,” she said in a statement. “We will not stop until every household in Nashville has power again.”

But for tens of thousands still in the cold, the apology rings hollow. The outage isn’t just inconvenient it’s life-threatening, especially for seniors and vulnerable families trying to stay warm in 10-degree temperatures.

This disaster has exposed a fundamental flaw in progressive city governance: too often, it elevates “climate optics” over actual climate resilience. A tree-friendly press quote may look good on local TV, but it won’t keep your family warm when the grid goes down.

The NES board appointed by the Democrat-run Nashville mayor’s office now faces serious questions about its leadership, priorities, and lack of urgency leading up to this crisis. Critics are calling for a full review of NES’s maintenance protocols and staffing levels, demanding accountability before another storm leaves the city frozen in the dark.

Nature is not going to wait for bureaucracy to catch up. When lives are on the line, protecting the power grid must come before hugging trees.

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