As Nashville’s utility company struggled to recover from a catastrophic ice storm and its Democratic mayor ordered a review, some conservatives attacked diversity training.

As Nashville’s utility company struggled to recover from a catastrophic ice storm and its Democratic mayor ordered a review, some conservatives attacked diversity training.

A massive ice storm that plunged tens of thousands of Tennessee homes into darkness has become a political flash point as angry residents cope with power outages stretching into a second week.

The finger-pointing escalated this week as some Republicans argued that a major utility company run by Democratic appointees has “woke” policies on diversity and tree-trimming that are the causes of customers’ woes.

There’s bipartisan and widespread consensus that Nashville Electric Service, which serves the city as well as surrounding counties, mishandled the storm, struggling to mobilize enough workers and equipment to quickly clear fallen trees and restore service.

  • grue
    11·
    17 hours ago

    If the utility company actually cut their tree-trimming budget to save some canopy, then that is a massive management failure, full stop.

    You’re falling for the bullshit. They didn’t “cut the tree-trimming budget.” If they spent less (which is disputed by the utility, BTW), it would’ve been because they employed actual arborists who did all the pruning they thought was actually necessary, and that turned out to save money compared to indiscriminately hacking them up like they’d been doing before.

    The Republican morons are accusing the utility company of caring about the tree canopy, using skilled professionals to do a more careful job, and saving money in the process. That’s what they’re trying to spin as somehow a bad thing!

    The article references another article from a “conservative media outlet,” which itself references a video interview the “woke NES CEO” apparently gave (months ago, before the storm). Here’s a direct quote from that second unashamedly-biased article:

    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.”

    …that’s it. That’s their smoking gun, that they think is so terrible. The most damning things the ‘woke Democrat’ said in the interview: “car[ing] about the canopy” and “cutting the trees in a healthy fashion.”