Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, is questioning Nashville Electric Service’s (NES) decision to retain multiple communications vendors amid mounting scrutiny over its response to Winter Storm Fern.
During a Wednesday appearance on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Pappert detailed what he described as a growing roster of public relations and lobbying firms hired as NES faces criticism over outages that left roughly 230,000 customers without power following the storm, with tens of thousands of those customers out of power for nearly two weeks.
Pappert’s remarks come as the Tennessee Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance database confirms that Mark Cate, former chief of staff to Governor Bill Haslam and now president of Stones River Group, has registered to represent NES.
Pappert suggested the move appears politically calculated.
“It seems clear NES thinks, okay, the Republicans are mad at us. Let’s go pay a Republican consultant,” he said.
“You’re seeing now a series of moves that are aimed at securing back channels of communication and potentially some sort of way out in terms of accountability that will not include mass resignations and firings,” Pappert added.
Cate’s registration came the same day U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) called for the resignation of NES CEO Teresa Broyles-Aplin, and as state lawmakers signal they are considering structural changes to the utility.
Pappert further criticized the reported involvement of Blake Harris, a former chief of staff to Governor Bill Lee, in managing press conferences during the crisis.
“The press conferences have been a complete disaster,” Pappert said, noting how he believes whatever the amount Harris is being compensated by the utility is “far too much.”
He described the press events as disorganized and ineffective, adding that NES’s written responses to media inquiries have been equally unhelpful.
Pappert also pointed to a contract between NES and FINN Partners that could total up to $10 million before it expires later this year.
“It’s very interesting,” Pappert said. “There was a public information request… and it showed that this FINN Partners group was party to a contract worth up to $10 million — it’s going to be worth up to $10 million by the time it expires in October of this year.”
Pappert noted that NES did not dispute the contract’s value when asked.
“They did not dispute the accuracy of that up to $10 million value on the contract,” he said, adding that the utility claimed the firm has provided pro bono services since the storm.
Pappert concluded that the hiring of multiple consultants and lobbyists does not appear to be improving transparency.
“They don’t actually seem to be helping NES communicate,” he said. “They seem to be helping NES hide from the public.”
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
