As Nashville Electric Service (NES) continues to face criticism for its storm preparedness and widespread power outages amid Winter Storm Fern, the utility’s President and CEO Teresa Broyles-Aplin just months ago praised the company’s prioritization of preserving Nashville’s urban tree canopy through species-specific, restrained trimming practices rather than aggressive removal.
As of Wednesday night, more than 99,000 NES customers remained without power after ice accumulation caused extensive damage to trees and power lines across Nashville.
Much of that damage, residents say, was foreseeable.
In an opinion piece published Monday in The Tennessean, Nashville resident Carson Kirkpatrick argued that city and state leaders failed to adequately plan for the predictable effects of prolonged freezing rain and ice in a tree-dense urban environment.
The Nashville resident questioned why arborist and tree mitigation services were not more aggressively deployed ahead of the storm, especially given forecasts showing days of freezing conditions.
“What we saw here was not simply “unusual weather,” but a preventable infrastructure failure related to tree management and response coordination,” Kirkpatrick wrote, pointing to downed trees that snapped power lines and blocked roadways throughout the city.
The criticism surrounding tree maintenance comes months after Broyles-Aplin publicly emphasized a restrained approach to tree trimming in order to preserve Nashville’s urban canopy.
During an August 2025 appearance on Urban League Live, Broyles-Aplin said NES – which she noted outsources its tree trimming – avoids aggressive trimming practices and instead relies on species-specific plans overseen by in-house arborists.
“We care about the canopy. We have to live here too,” Broyles-Aplin said at the time.
“And so I don’t want us out destroying the canopy,” she added. “We do species specific trimming…We take a lot of pride in making sure that we are cutting the trees in a healthy fashion.”
NES also faces criticism not only for the scale of outages, but also for its restoration strategy.
Two members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers told Fox 17 that NES declined offers of assistance from multiple union linemen crews, allegedly opting instead for less expensive contractors.
By contrast, Middle Tennessee Electric – which serves more than 359,000 customers across the region – reported just 51 customers were affected by outages at 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday.
State officials have confirmed at least 13 weather-related deaths across Tennessee due to the winter storm, including three in Davidson County.
Soldiers and Airmen with the Tennessee National Guard have since been deployed to Nashville, assisting local emergency responders by transporting fuel, clearing debris with Nashville Electric Service, supporting Red Cross shelters, providing medical care, and helping stranded residents in the wake of the winter storm.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Trees Down” by NES.
